2022 College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Awards
Outstanding Career Achievement
Choong-Shik Yoo
Chemistry; Institute for Shock Physics
An internationally renowned figure in static high pressure science, Choong-Shik Yoo developed and sustains a world-class academic research and education program at WSU. Choong-Shik epitomizes faculty excellence as both an innovative researcher and a superb educator.
Yoo’s groundbreaking research achievements build on especially challenging and elegant optical and X-ray measurements to understand states of matter at extreme thermodynamic conditions. His work has brought considerable extramural funding to the University from diverse sources.
Through his mentorship and hands-on training, numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have achieved the knowledge and skills needed to obtain prominent posts in academia, national laboratories, and industry.
Before joining WSU faculty in 2007, Yoo led the High Pressure Physics Group at the prestigious Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and throughout his more than 35-year career, he has made profound contributions across the physical sciences. Widely sought for both the breadth and depth of his expertise, Yoo publishes frequently in top scientific journals and lectures worldwide on an array of topics. His numerous scientific accomplishments and broad scholarly scope speak to his boundless curiosity and dedication to expanding knowledge for today and the future.
Feature written by CAS Communications
Early Career Achievement, Tenure Track
Xiaofeng Guo
Chemistry
An emerging expert in nuclear thermodynamics, Xiaofeng Guo is an outstanding educator, scholar, and colleague.
In the classroom, Guo is equally at home leading large, first-year undergraduate courses as he is engaging with graduate students in small specialty seminars. He is also a dedicated mentor currently supervising eight doctoral and two undergraduate students.
In the lab, Guo is a superb research chemist with a keen understanding of materials critically important to the nuclear fuel cycle and the safe long-term storage of nuclear waste. His unique thermodynamic techniques are applicable to many fields: Guo regularly contributes to answering complex, interdisciplinary questions in chemical engineering, natural geologic systems, and other scientific realms.
Since joining WSU in 2018, Guo has published 76 peer-reviewed articles, co-founded the WSU Navrotsky Institute for Experimental Thermodynamics, received more than $1M in external funding, and led the acquisition of a state-of-the-art X-ray spectrometer that greatly expanded the University’s research capabilities and opportunities for multiple disciplines to work together. Guo is a rising star, well on his way to becoming an internationally renowned researcher, collaborator, and professor.
Feature written by CAS Communications
