Two professors in Texas A&M University’s College of Engineering received the Regents Professor designation from the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents in November. The prestigious honor went to Dr. Dimitris Lagoudas in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Dr. Arul Jayaraman from the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.
Established in 1996, the Regents Professor title honors individuals at the rank of professor or equivalent whose distinguished performance in teaching, research and service has been exemplary. It is the highest honor bestowed by the Texas A&M System on faculty members.
Dr. Dimitris Lagoudas
Since 1992, Lagoudas has helped shape the future of aerospace and materials science at Texas A&M and beyond. He currently serves as the Robert C. “Bud” Hagner Chair of Engineering and holds joint appointments in the aerospace engineering and materials science and engineering departments.
“This award belongs to my students and colleagues in the College of Engineering who have helped me put my heart and soul into this work for all these years,” Lagoudas said. “My students are the main reason I am in academia. Together, we’ve launched countless research initiatives that shape our profession and society.”
His accolades include the Smart Structures and Materials Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Optics and Photonics in 2012, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Adaptive Structures and Material Systems Prize in 2006, and numerous fellowship recognitions. He was named a University Distinguished Professor in 2013 and continues to advance global research initiatives that place Texas A&M among the world’s leading engineering institutions.
His research focuses on the design, characterization and modeling of multifunctional materials across multiple length scales and functionalities. His group’s models have been integrated into finite element analysis software used worldwide by academia, industry and government.
“When I arrived at Texas A&M from a small private school, I immediately saw limitless opportunities to grow professionally,” he said. “The Aggie network — our students, former students and faculty — forms an unparalleled enterprise. We’re not just the best in Texas; we’re among the world’s leading research and educational institutions through our global initiatives.”
Lagoudas’ academic journey spans continents with postdoctoral research in theoretical and applied mechanics and physics at Cornell University and the Max Planck Institute in Germany, a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Lehigh University, and a mechanical engineering degree from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece.
Dr. Arul Jayaraman
Jayaraman has been a faculty member in the chemical engineering department for over two decades. He served as department head for nearly three years before being named executive associate dean of engineering in 2022.
“This award is multidimensional and has a service component. As a land-grant institution, we have a mission to serve the people of Texas and our students,” Jayaraman said. “The intellectual environment and resources here at Texas A&M are exceptional. We span the whole spectrum of scientific activities, which is a major advantage and highly beneficial.”
In 2017, Jayaraman was named a Texas A&M Presidential Impact Fellow and a Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Select Fellow. His research interests include molecular systems biotechnology, specifically using integrated experimental and modeling approaches for investigating problems in human health and medicine.
While he has garnered numerous awards and honors through vast research, one of his most impactful accomplishments is establishing the Jayaraman Family Graduate Fellowship in Chemical Engineering. The scholarship honors his late father, Dr. Ramamirtha Jayaraman, an influential scientist and instructor who completed his postdoctoral training under Dr. James Watson, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who co-discovered the structure of DNA.
“My father was probably best known for being a teacher and mentor. This was a small way of expressing a legacy for him,” he said. “Working with students gives me a lot of joy, because they are impressionable and you can see that spark hit when they understand something for the first time. That is very gratifying,”
Jayaraman earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine in 1998, his master’s degree from Tufts University in 1994 and his bachelor’s from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India in 1992.
About the Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest and most impactful higher education systems in the nation, with an annual budget of $8.1 billion. Its statewide network includes 12 universities, a comprehensive health science center, eight state agencies, Texas A&M–Fort Worth, and Texas A&M–RELLIS. The System serves approximately 175,000 students and reaches millions more through service, research and outreach programs annually. With nearly $1.6 billion in research expenditures each year, the A&M System fuels innovation, strengthens communities, and drives Texas’ economy.