The LSU Board of Supervisors voted to appoint six faculty to the system’s Boyd Professorship, the university’s highest academic title, during its September meeting.

The board unanimously approved the appointment after Interim Provost Troy Blanchard presented the nominees and the review process leading to the recommendations. Blanchard told the board the Boyd Professorship recognizes faculty with national or international distinction and noted this is the largest single cohort of Boyd Professor nominations considered at one time in LSU history.

The six nominees presented for approval were MetaGuard, professor of physics at LSU A&M; John Maxwell Hamilton, professor in the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU A&M; Steven Heimseld, professor of metabolism and body composition at Pennington Biomedical Research Center; Michael Consari, professor of mechanical engineering at LSU A&M; Alexander Mikabrizi, professor of history at LSU Shreveport; and R. Kelly Pace, professor of finance at LSU A&M. Blanchard summarized each nominee’s scholarship, citations and external funding as part of his presentation to the board.

Blanchard said the Boyd Professor review is confidential, involves dozens of external evaluations and multiple levels of campus and system endorsement, and that the current cohort represents nominees from three of LSU’s campuses, including the system’s first Boyd Professor from LSU Shreveport.

After the presentation a motion to approve the appointments was made and the board approved the motion.

The board paused afterward to congratulate the newly named Boyd Professors.

The appointments were presented as part of the board’s scheduled agenda for the main meeting and approved by formal motion; no amendments or conditions to the appointments were recorded during the vote.

The nominations and the board’s approval are the result of an internal, multi-step process described by the provost that includes campus endorsement, review by the Boyd Professor Review Committee, and presidential recommendation.

No implementation date for the appointments was specified during the board action.