Early Career Scholarly Impact Awardees
2026 Awardees
Area of Scholarship
Area of scholarship: a synthetic polymer chemist focusing on new macromolecules to answer questions and solve problems across a variety of fields.
Highlights
- More than 37 publications, nine of which are corresponding authorships
- Three current patent applications
- Cited more than 2300 times
- Invited to present at a combined 45 national and international seminars and meetings
- National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award in 2025
In the Nominator’s Words
“Beyond metrics, what sets Professor Figg apart is how he innovates in the field of organic chemistry to solve bigger problems that span traditional disciplines. Professor Figg is, at his core, a synthetic polymer chemist, meaning that he makes new macromolecules to answer questions and solve problems across a variety of fields. His toolbox is that of organic chemistry, and he has an uncanny ability to see how making a new macromolecule, or sometimes an array of macromolecules, can answer difficult questions. He takes a scaffolded approach to his work, where, one, new fundamental discoveries in how we make polymers lead to; two, new materials with interesting or unusual properties that are used to; three, answer questions or provide solutions to difficult problems. This approach allows Professor Figg to ultimately translate fundamental chemistry efforts into new materials that can answer biological questions and potentially provide new and innovative treatments that look nothing like common small molecule drugs or larger biologics,” wrote Amanda Morris, professor and chair, Department of Chemistry.
Area of Scholarship
The climate-food-health nexus among Indigenous peoples, with an emphasis on the international importance of sustainability, public health, and climate adaptation policy.
Highlights
- Authored or co-authored 49 peer-reviewed articles, three book chapters, three high-level reports, and 51 conference presentations
- Cited more than 4,100 times
- Maintains partnerships with 11 Indigenous communities from Global North and South
- Served as a contributing author to major international assessments, including the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report and high-level reports for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
- More than $8 million of external funding
- Principal investigator on a Belmont Forum–National Science Foundation collaborative grant valued at approximately $1 million
- Held leadership roles with the Indigenous Peoples Observatory Network, a major international research initiative involving partners across more than 17 countries and over 100 Indigenous communities
In the Nominator’s Words
“What distinguishes his work is not only its intellectual quality, but also its reach — across disciplines, regions, communities, and policy arenas. His scholarship has influenced academic debates, informed international assessments, shaped community-level decision-making, and elevated Virginia Tech’s visibility as a leader in engaged, globally relevant research in ways. In summary, Dr. Eranga Galappaththi exemplifies the ideals of the Early Career Scholarly Impact Award. His work combines intellectual excellence with global reach, policy relevance, community engagement, and leadership. He has already made a lasting impact on his field and is poised to shape scholarship and practice for decades to come,” wrote Tom Crawford, professor and chair, Department of Geography.
Area of Scholarship
Engineering practice, workforce development, and engineering ethics and policy.
Highlights
- Supported by $1.2 million in external funding, with a personal share of $829,114
- Serves as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on three National Science Foundation grants and as a consultant on a Growth and Opportunities for Virginia planning grant
- 18 peer-reviewed journal articles, nine of which as either the lead or corresponding author
- Founded and directs the LABoratory for Innovative and REsponsible ENgineering Workforce, mentoring five Ph.D. students and eight undergraduates
- Regularly presents at conferences of engineering education and ethics, including the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Frontiers in Education Conference, Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Annual Conference, and IEEE-ETHICS Conference
- 30 peer-reviewed conference papers
- Cited more than 140 times in 2025 and a total of 360 times as of April 2026 across various journals and conference proceedings, according to Google Scholar
- Invited speaker and panelist at various international forums, including the 2025 World Congress of Korean Scientists and Engineers, Innovating Engineering Education with Generative AI Workshop , Routledge International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education Talk Show Series, and the plenary session of the 2023 IEEE-ETHICS Conference
In the Nominator’s Words
“In three years at Virginia Tech, Dr. Kim has established an internationally engaged, well-funded, and impactful research program that advances the understanding of responsible and innovative engineering practice and workforce development in the era of emerging technologies. Her sustained record of publications, citations, grants, and leadership demonstrates a promising and expanding trend of scholarly achievement and influence within and beyond engineering education. She is deeply committed to advancing Virginia Tech’s mission of integrating research excellence, educational innovation, and societal impact,” wrote Jenny Lo, senior instructor and chair, Department of Engineering Education’s Honorifics Committee.
Dayoung Kim
2025 Awardees
Area of Scholarship
The intersection of alcohol use and intimate personal violence
Highlights
- 56 articles in peer-reviewed journals
- 4 combined book chapters and encyclopedia entries
- 100 conference presentations
- 23 undergraduate students mentored
In the Nominator’s Words
“Dr. Brem exemplifies the best of the best in her role as an assistant professor, through her grant strategies, impactful and well targeted lines of inquiry, community outreach, and mentoring success…[she] is helping the field to move toward evidence-based solutions that recognize the nuanced intervention models needed to best prevent IPV in young adults.” -- Jamie Edgin, chair of the Department of Psychology
Area of Scholarship
Machine learning, security, privacy, and cyber-physical systems, with the focus on interdisciplinary problems in data-centric artificial intelligence and trustworthy machine learning
Highlights
- 88 papers published
- 19 publications authored in 2024 alone
- 17 significant research grants, including the prestigious NSF CAREER Award and an NSF Medium Award
- 13 grants, accruing a total of over 3.7 million dollars in research funding.
In the Nominator’s Words
“She revealed new privacy risks and security vulnerabilities and then developed effective defense to protect privacy and secure machine learning systems while retaining data utility. Her strategic data sourcing techniques have been adopted by Amazon Alexa, currently assisting their internal data selection processes…Her trailblazing approach of leveraging cooperative game theory for data valuation has produced global impacts in financial institutions and have been adopted by major banks. Her research has also shaped national policy discussions, being incorporated into the National Institute of Standards and Technology AI [artificial intelligence] Risk Management Framework and cited in their guideline for managing misuse risks in foundation models. Additionally, her work has driven concrete changes in industry practices, with OpenAI implementing additional safety measures based on her findings. The widespread adoption and recognition of her research demonstrates its significant real-world impact.” – Rose Hu, head of the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Area of Scholarship
Digital and cultural history of information in the early modern period, including the continuities and ruptures of information technologies, professions, and ethics
Highlights
- Solo author of four peer-reviewed articles and book chapters
- Co-authored a peer-reviewed article and encyclopedia entry
- Taught eight different courses
- Led a series of workshops on new data-driven approaches to the history of travel
In the Nominator’s Words
“Dr. Midura received a Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for this work, which ranks among the most prestigious grants for digital humanities work. She has mentored student research assistants from both the history department and the Computational Modeling and Data Analytics program, for which she routinely leads a capstone project….In addition to updating existing courses to be in line with pedagogical and methodological best practices, Dr. Midura also has an impressive track record of creating new, innovative courses…Each of these courses integrate various digital methodologies to facilitate skill-building, from project-based learning producing podcasts, museum exhibits, and infographics, to historical simulations of trials or papal conclaves. -- Jennifer Hart, professor and chair of the Department of History
About the Award
The Early Career Scholarly Impact Award recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated early leadership as scholars, as evidenced by a promising record of scholarly/creative achievement and increasing impact.
Up to three faculty will be selected per year and will receive $2,000 each.