UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State's Office of Faculty Affairs has named 14 new distinguished professors for 2026.
The distinguished professor or distinguished librarian title recognizes outstanding academic contribution to the University. This special academic title is bestowed upon a limited number of professors who are leaders in their fields of research or creative activity and who have demonstrated significant accomplishments with respect to teaching, research or creative activity, and service.
The 2026 distinguished professors are listed below, along with brief biographies produced by the selection committee, edited for brevity and clarity:
David M. Almeida
Distinguished professor of human development and family studies, College of Health and Human Development
A scholar in the study of stress, health and aging, David Almeida researches everyday stressors and their impact on well-being across the lifespan. His innovative daily-diary methodology has transformed how researchers conceptualize and measure daily stress, influencing fields from developmental science to psychosocial epidemiology. His leadership includes principal investigator roles on major National Institutes of Health-funded initiatives such as the National Study of Daily Experiences and the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) project.
Shirley E. Clark
Distinguished professor of environmental engineering, Penn State Harrisburg
Shirley Clark studies stormwater management, urban water quality and climate-resilient infrastructure. Her expertise is sought by federal agencies, national professional societies and international conferences. She has served as president of the American Society of Civil Engineering's (ASCE) Environmental and Water Resources Institute, representing over 22,000 engineers, and was recently named an ASCE Fellow. At Penn State Harrisburg, Clark has held numerous leadership roles, including interim director of the School of Science, Engineering, and Technology; and chair of the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering.
Venkatraman Gopalan
Distinguished professor of materials science and engineering, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Venkatraman Gopalan’s work in materials science spans ferroelectrics, multiferroics, nonlinear optics, symmetry and group theory, and semiconductor technologies. His scholarship has redefined the boundaries of materials science and enabled first-of-their-kind optoelectronic devices. He also is professor of physics at Penn State, associate head for graduate education, and chair of the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Materials Science and Engineering. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Ceramics Society.
Chad Hanna
Distinguished professor of physics, Eberly College of Science
Chad Hanna researches gravitational-wave astronomy and serves as a leader within the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration. He played a central role in the discovery of gravitational waves — “ripples" in spacetime caused by energetic cosmic events — and co-developed a real-time search pipeline that enabled the first prompt detection of gravitational waves from a binary neutron-star merger. Hanna has served as co-chair of LIGO’s Compact Binary Coalescence and Computing and Software working groups, guiding large teams through many of the field’s most significant discoveries. At Penn State, Hanna built one of the world’s premier computational centers for gravitational-wave data analysis. He also is professor of astronomy and astrophysics. Read more about Hanna here.
David Lee
Distinguished professor of special education, College of Education
David Lee studies special education, with a focus in applied behavior analysis and interventions for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Since joining Penn State in 1999, his work has shaped evidence-based practices in classrooms nationally and internationally. Lee’s leadership has been instrumental in major projects such as SACRED (Socially and Culturally Responsive Education for Students with emotional behavioral disorders), SEALS (Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Success) and BASE (Behavioral, Academic and Social Engagement). He served as head of the Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education; academic director of the Applied Behavior Analysis Program, and professor-in-charge of the Special Education Graduate Program. Read more about Lee here.
Susan J. Loeb
Distinguished professor of nursing, Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing
Susan Loeb researches gerontological and correctional nursing at the intersection of palliative care, aging and correctional health. Her research has advanced understanding and practice in caring for older adults and those with advanced illness in prison settings, populations often overlooked in mainstream healthcare. Loeb has led multiple NIH-funded projects, including those under the National Institute on Aging, developed innovative e-training programs for peer caregivers in prisons, and published extensively across nursing, public health and criminology journals. She is director of the Ph.D. Program in the Nese College of Nursing, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the Gerontological Society of America.
Michael Janik
Distinguished professor of chemical engineering, College of Engineering
Michael Janik studies computational catalysis, and his research has shaped fundamental understanding and advanced applications in catalysis. Janik joined Penn State in 2006 and was promoted to professor in 2015. He serves as associate editor of the Journal of Catalysis and is also a co-editor and author of the textbook "Computational Catalysis." Janik’s collaborative approach has led to impactful partnerships across Penn State and internationally.
Ram Narayanan
Distinguished professor of electrical engineering, College of Engineering
Ram Narayanan studies radar engineering and electromagnetics, and is best known for his work in noise radar and quantum radar, and for founding Penn State’s Center for Radar Engineering, Science, and Technology. He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) and the International Electromagnetics Academy.
Daniel Perkins
Distinguished professor of youth and family resiliency and policy, College of Agricultural Sciences
Daniel Perkins studies youth and family resiliency, prevention science and military family well-being. As founding principal scientist of the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State, Perkins has led major research initiatives that have shaped national policy and practice, including the PROSPER project and the VETERANetwork. His work supports research and outreach that has benefited communities, service members and veterans nationwide. Read more about Perkins here.
Alicyn Rhoades
Distinguished professor of engineering, Penn State Behrend
Alicyn Rhoades researches polymer crystallization and thermal analysis, with applications spanning automotive, aerospace and medical device manufacturing. As vice chancellor and associate dean for research and graduate studies at Penn State Behrend, Rhoades oversees the college’s research enterprise and served as interim director of the School of Science. She is the founding director of the Advanced Resource Efficiency Center, advancing sustainability and circular manufacturing. Rhoades is a fellow of the North American Thermal Analysis Society, an ELATES Fellow, and serves on editorial advisory boards for leading journals. She champions diversity and inclusion through outreach programs such as Next Step in STEM and GE/Wabtec Girls at Behrend.
Steven Rubin
Distinguished professor of art and photography, College of Arts and Architecture
A documentary photographer and photojournalist, Steven Rubin’s work has appeared in leading publications such as the New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Time and Newsweek, as well as in international magazines, including Stern, GEO and L’Express. His creative practice addresses human rights, environmental issues and rural life, and his books — "Vacationland" and "Shale Play: Poems and Photographs from the Fracking Fields" — demonstrate a sustained engagement with social and environmental themes. He received a Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship at Penn State and a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard. Read more about Rubin here.
Phillip Savage
Distinguished professor of chemical engineering, College of Engineering
Phillip Savage, who researches hydrothermal chemistry and engineering, joined Penn State in 2014 as head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. His pioneering work has advanced green chemical synthesis, biofuels, chemical recycling of plastics, and waste valorization. Savage is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and American Chemical Society. He also served for 10 years as editor-in-chief of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, one of the field’s leading journals.
Gang "Gary" Tan
Distinguished professor of computer science and engineering, College of Engineering
G. Gary Tan's research into trustworthy computing and software security has shaped the fields of software security, formal verification and systems reliability. His work has been supported by major federal grants, including leading an $8.5 million DARPA project on secure mixed-reality systems. He is a co-director of the Institute for Networking and Security Research and an Association for Computing Machinery Distinguished Member.
Karen P. Winterich
Distinguished professor of marketing, Smeal College of Business
Karen Winterich's research on sustainability and consumer behavior has shaped sustainable business practices, including strategies to encourage product repair and recycling. She developed and teaches the widely acclaimed undergraduate course “Sustainable Behavior of Consumers, Firms, and Societies,” which has become a model for sustainability education nationwide. Winterich also is Gerald I. Susman Professor in Sustainability and serves as co-editor of the Journal of Marketing Research.