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ASU names 4 faculty as Regents' Professors for 2014-2015


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June 04, 2015

Four Arizona State University professors have joined the ranks of the highest faculty honor at the university, as Regents’ Professors for the 2014-2015 academic year.

The title is conferred on full professors who have made exceptional achievements that have brought them national and international distinction. The expertise from this year’s candidates ranges from Chinese culture to earthquake engineering.

Stephen Bokenkamp, Janet Franklin, Edward Kavazanjian, Flavio Marsiglia
Clockwise from top left: Stephen Bokenkamp, professor in the School of International Letters and Culture, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Janet Franklin, professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Flavio Marsiglia, professor in the College of Public Service and Community Solutions; and Edward Kavazanjian, professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. 

Here’s a look at the 2014-2015 Regents’ Professors:

Stephen Bokenkamp, School of International Letters and Culture, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Bokenkamp is universally recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on Chinese religion, including Buddhism, in the formative early medieval period.

As the top scholar of Daoism in the U.S. and among a handful of leading authorities internationally, his insights have greatly increased the understanding of the religion worldwide. Bokenkamp recently won a Guggenheim award for work on his new book: a study and translation of the seminal work “Zhen’gao” or “Declarations of the Perfected,” a sixth-century Chinese book of celestially revealed material.

Janet Franklin, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Franklin’s research bridges the academic disciplines of geography and biology.

She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in April 2014 for her pioneering work employing geospatial data and spatial analytical tools to examine the evolving biodiversity of ecosystems over time, as they relate to the physical environment, ecological processes and human influences.

Her research in spatial analysis using remote sensing and geographic information technologies has significantly changed the course of research in this area and led to new discoveries concerning the changing landscape of the earth.

Edward Kavazanjian, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering

Kavazanjian is particularly well known for his work on analysis, design and construction of landfills and waste-containment systems, especially under earthquake loading. His contributions in earthquake engineering have crucial importance to catastrophic events that occur with frequency.

Kavazanjian was elected into the National Academy of Engineering in 2013. He has also received a number of prestigious awards in recognition of his scholarship, including awards from the most recognized and respected civil engineering organization in the world.

Most recently, Kavazanjian has become a pioneer in the newly emerging field of biogeotechnical engineering.

Flavio Marsiglia, College of Public Service and Community Solutions

Marsiglia's work on diversity, substance use and youth development is regarded to be among the best and most influential in the field and has been credited with a measurable reduction in drug use and high-risk behavior among youth in Phoenix and in more than 30 other states and foreign countries.

He has developed and tested interventions to prevent substance abuse and HIV transmission, especially among minority populations of the Southwest. One such intervention, the school-based "keepin'it REAL" substance-abuse prevention program for Latino children and youth, is being widely replicated and tested with other ethnic groups both in the U.S. and internationally.