Hughes earns Duncan Award for academic achievement

$5,000 Charles W. Duncan Jr. Achievement Award for Outstanding Facult

.

“Joe’s accomplishments in research and teaching
are significant, but the main reason I supported him for
this award is for his dedication to Rice and its future,”
said Sidney Burrus, dean of the George R. Brown School of
Engineering.

Burrus said Hughes has demonstrated strong leadership during
the first year of the newly created Department of Civil
and Environmental Engineering, which was formed by the merger
in July of the departments of civil engineering and environmental
science and engineering. Hughes has chaired the department
since its creation.
“Creating a new department is never easy, particularly
when you are merging programs that are each renowned in
their own right,” said Burrus. “The benefits of
Joe’s leadership during this critical period will be
felt for decades. He’s done far more than distinguish
himself as a department head. I believe Joe someday will
be a wonderful dean or provost.”

Hughes said he was pleased and honored to win this award,
particularly since Rice has so many outstanding young faculty.
As for the future, Hughes said he’s looking forward
to a less hectic schedule in the fall. For one thing, he
wants to teach his own course again. The demands of chairing
the new department didn’t allow him time to teach his
own course during the past academic year, and though he
got to guest lecture from time to time, he missed teaching
more than he had expected.

“If you’re in academia I think you have a responsibility
to pass on knowledge, so in some ways, I didn’t feel
like I was fulfilling expectations — both my own and
the profession’s,” said Hughes.
Hughes’ research focuses in the area of environmental
biotechnology, most specifically on the capability of living
organisms such as bacteria to metabolize hazardous organic
pollutants. The organisms themselves aren’t bioengineered.
They already exist in nature, so the engineering task lies
in creating the proper conditions for them to thrive and
break down the maximum amount of hazardous waste possible.