Four MU professors were appointed as Curators’ Professors, the highest educational honor given by the UM System.
Statistics professor Nancy Flournoy, biochemistry professor Gerald Hazelbauer, fisheries and wildlife professor John Jones and geological sciences professor Mian Liu received the award after the UM Board of Curators approved the nominations at its September meeting.
The Curators’ Professorship is prestigious, and only outstanding scholars with established reputations are considered for appointment, according to the Office of the Provost’s website.
The recipients were notified via mail by letters from Chancellor Brady Deaton, Provost Brian Foster and President Tim Wolfe about their nominations. In addition to the award, the recipients receive a raise and a stipend for scholarly activity.
**Nancy Flournoy, statistics professor**
Flournoy is the former statistics department chairwoman. She currently teaches one undergraduate class and one graduate class. Flournoy was the only woman of the four recognized.
“It was really cool,” Flournoy said. “I was very pleased. It’s a great honor.”
Her work with statistical theory has been motivated by problems encountered while working with the Seattle bone marrow transplant team, according to her website. Flournoy received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles before receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. Flournoy has spent 10 years at MU.
“The students are a joy,” Flournoy said.
**Gerald Hazelbauer, biochemistry department chairman**
Hazelbauer studies how organisms sense their surroundings and cells move to favorable environments, specifically the bacterium E. coli in intestinal tracts of some mammals.
“I was very pleased,” Hazelbauer said. “It’s nice to be recognized by my colleagues and institution around me. I see every 3-year-old as a scientist, and some of us never grew up. We kept asking how, who, what and why.”
Hazelbauer graduated from Williams College with a bachelor’s degree in biology before receiving his master’s degree in biology from Case Western Reserve University. After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Hazelbauer spent 10 years in Europe. He then returned to the U.S. and taught for 20 years at Washington State University. He has spent the last 12 years at MU and currently is the biochemistry department chairman.
**John Jones, fisheries and wildlife department chairman**
Jones’ work focuses on limnology, the study of the desired balance between nutrients and productivity of algal production of freshwater lakes and streams.
Jones said he was humbled when he found out he received the award.
“It was really baffling,” Jones said. “I was reading the letter, and I kept skipping sentences because I was in complete surprise.”
Jones has worked with aquatic agriculture at MU since 1975. In his 37 years, he said he has taken the questions from his research and implemented them around the country and the globe.
“I study the most interesting science,” Jones said. “Nothing is more interesting than lakes are. I get to tell the story (of) how they work and how we manage and protect them.”
**Mian Liu, geological sciences professor**
Liu, who works as a geophysicist and professor in the geological sciences department, studies earthquakes around the world. Liu said he has studied earthquakes in China, Haiti and Japan.
“We try to understand why earthquakes happen in places that earthquakes are not supposed to happen at,” Liu said. “Our major effort is trying to find how earthquakes differ. Hopefully we get an understanding.”
Originally a gypsy from Bejing, China, Liu said he has been at MU since 1992. He received his master’s degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, before attaining his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, Tucson. He completed his postdoctoral work at the University of Minnesota and Pennsylvania State University.
“I was very happy and also humbled,” Liu said. “We have a strong department from the College of Arts and Science with excellent faculty. We get really good students, and I thank them for their contributions. I feel very supported here at Mizzou.”