Contact: James Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.—James Fowler is Mississippi State University’s winner of the 2018 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award.

Fowler, the Billie J. Ball professor and graduate program director in MSU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is among the 14 faculty members from across the SEC to receive the distinguished award this year, the conference announced Wednesday [March 28].

Nominated by their university’s provost, each award candidate must have amassed records of extraordinary teaching and nationally or internationally recognized scholarship.

“The SEC is home to 14 of the finest universities in the nation, and our faculty are some of the most accomplished individuals in academia,” said Mark E. Keenum, president of Mississippi State University and president of the Southeastern Conference. “We are delighted to have a way to recognize their achievements, and along with the other SEC Presidents and Chancellors, I offer each of them my sincere congratulations.”

In addition to receiving a $5,000 honorarium, Fowler and other winners become nominees for the top SEC Professor of the Year Award. When announced next month, that person will receive an additional $15,000.

Fowler is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. At MSU, he holds research affiliations with the university’s Distributed Analytics and Security Institute, as well as the Geosystems Research Institute. His research interests include the communication of images, video and geospatial data, including image processing and coding, video coding and data-communication systems.

“We are so pleased that the SEC has chosen to recognize Dr. Fowler for his important contributions to teaching and research,” MSU Provost and Executive Vice President Judy Bonner said. “In addition to conducting ground-breaking research in his field, he is playing a vital role in preparing our graduate students to become leading teachers and researchers.”

Fowler received his bachelor’s degree in computer and information science engineering and his advanced degrees, including a doctorate in electrical engineering, from Ohio State University.

The SEC Faculty Achievement and SEC Professor of the Year Awards are administered by SECU, the academic initiative of the SEC. For more information, visit www.TheSECU.com.

For more on MSU’s Bagley College of Engineering, visit www.bagley.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.