Rana Ashkar awarded faculty fellowship
Rana Ashkar, associate professor of physics in the College of Science, has been awarded the Patricia Caldwell Faculty Fellowship by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The Patricia Caldwell Faculty Fellowship was established in 2019 with a generous gift from its namesake to advance the national and international prominence of the College of Science. A 1971 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, Caldwell created this fellowship to recognize faculty engaged in exceptional research and teaching, to recruit accomplished scholars, and to retain high-performing faculty members who make significant contributions to the university’s research missions.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 2018, Ashkar previously held a postdoctoral research scholarship at the University of Maryland and the National Institute of Standards and Technology from 2012-15, followed by a Clifford G. Shull Fellowship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 2015-17.
Ashkar is a recognized investigator in soft matter and biological physics. Her research on biomimetic lipid membranes, responsive polymeric systems, and tunable bio-interfaces has gained widespread interest for both its fundamental level and real-world applications.
Her groundbreaking discoveries in membrane biophysics have been featured in top-tier journals. Her scholarship record includes 50 publications in leading journals and more than 30 invited or keynote presentations at professional conferences.
Ashkar’s research has been recognized with funding from a variety of sources, including the National Science Foundation, the Jeffress Memorial Trust, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
In 2025, she received a prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship. She has also been honored with the 2024 Alumni Award for Excellence in Graduate Academic Advising at Virginia Tech.
She has supervised 26 undergraduate students, six graduate students, and three postdoctoral fellows at Virginia Tech.
Ashkar received her master’s degree from American University of Beirut and her Ph.D. from Indiana University.
