Prof. Heather Desaire among two KU faculty members named University Distinguished Professors

LAWRENCE – Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara A. Bichelmeyer has awarded two University of Kansas faculty members the designation of University Distinguished Professor. The appointments for Heather Desaire in the Department of Chemistry and Erik Perrins in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science will be effective at the start of the fall 2024 semester.

“Dr. Desaire and Dr. Perrins have dedicated themselves to their disciplines, contributing meaningfully not only to their respective fields but to the betterment of society,” Bichelmeyer said. “They epitomize KU’s mission to educate leaders, build healthy communities and make discoveries that change the world. I extend my sincere congratulations and appreciation to both of them.”

Nominations of current KU faculty members for distinguished professorships come from academic departments and schools on the Lawrence campus. Major criteria for selection include a record of exceptional scholarship, participation in university affairs and professional organizations, service to community and support for the growth and success of their students, colleagues and the institution. The University Committee on Distinguished Professorships reviews nominations and forwards its recommendations to the provost for final approval.

A complete list of distinguished professors is available online.

About the 2024 University Distinguished Professors

Heather Desaire

Desaire is the Dean's Professor and Keith D. Wilner Chair in Chemistry. She joined the department in 2002. Her research interests span the fields of glycobiology, mass spectrometry and machine learning.

Desaire manages a research team of professional staff and graduate students who have won multiple research awards over the years. Some of their most recent publications cover detecting the use of generative AI in scientific writing and enabling lipidomic biomarker studies for underserved populations.

She has mentored more than 30 undergraduate researchers, four master’s students and 14 doctoral students who have successfully defended their doctorate under her guidance. Desaire also mentors assistant and associate professors at KU, helping them with successful grant writing.

In addition to having served on several advisory committees at KU, Desaire is the treasurer-elect of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and has served on more than 40 grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health. She has won a number of awards, including the William T. Kemper Award for Excellence in Teaching, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the American Society for Mass Spectrometry Research Award.

Desaire earned her doctorate from the University of California-Berkeley and her bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College.

Erik Perrins

Perrins is a Charles E. & Mary Jane Spahr Professor and is the department chair of electrical engineering and computer science. He joined the department in 2005.

With significant contributions to the telemetry industry, Perrins’ research interests include digital communication theory, advanced modulation techniques, channel coding, synchronization, and multiple-input and multiple-output communications.

Perrins has mentored several junior faculty members, 14 master’s students and seven doctoral students. He has led the establishment of a partnership between KU and the International Foundation for Telemetering that provides significant support for student groups in the School of Engineering.

Perrins is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the IEEE Communications Society, the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society and the National Spectrum Consortium’s executive committee.  

He has served as an area editor for the IEEE Transactions on Communications and president of the Central States Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association. He has also served in various officer positions for the Communication Theory Technical Committee within the IEEE Communications Society and as the director of the Institute for Information Science’s communications and signal processing lab.

Perrins earned his doctorate, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering from Brigham Young University.