Indiana University has named 11 faculty members as distinguished professors -- the highest academic title for IU's most outstanding and renowned scholars and researchers.

Since the adoption of distinguished titles in 1953, IU has honored 254 scholars, scientists, artists and musicians with this recognition. There are currently 98 distinguished professors on the IU faculty. Thirty-nine women have held the title, more than half of whom were appointed in the past 14 years.

"IU's newest distinguished professors have all made major contributions to their fields of study where they are all widely respected and have earned international recognition and acclaim," IU President Michael A. McRobbie said. "Their remarkable research and creative activity represent the pinnacle of what it means to be a researcher and scholar. And it is a comment on IU's standing as a great research university that it is able to sustain such excellence in such a wide variety of disciplines from the humanities through the sciences to medicine."

Below are brief biographies of the appointees:

D. Wade Clapp

Dr. D. Wade Clapp is the Richard L. Schreiner Professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, as well as professor of microbiology and immunology, biochemistry and molecular biology, and medical and molecular genetics in the IU School of Medicine. His research focuses on "orphan" cancers, which affect fewer than 100,000 children in the U.S. and are often neglected in medical research.

Clapp is the principal investigator of the first pediatric Scientific Program of Research Excellence, or SPORE, grant from the National Institutes of Health, which studies pediatric tumor responses. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Medicine.

Matthew Hahn

Matthew Hahn is a professor of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of computer science in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering at IU Bloomington. Hahn's contributions have reshaped the fields of evolutionary and population genomics through seminal advances in the dynamics of gene duplication and gene loss, speciation, adaptation and phylogenomics.

Hahn has developed and made freely available six widely used software programs for evolutionary, population genetic and genomic analyses. He has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on $17.5 million in external grant funding.

Martin Jarrold

Martin Jarrold, an experimental physical chemist, is the Robert and Marjorie Mann Chair in Chemistry and professor of chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington. Jarrold's work in charge detection mass spectrometry instrument development has transformed spectrometry-based virology.

Jarrold's work has had translational applications to assessing the assembly of hepatitis B virus, the Adeno associated virus, and high-density and low-density lipoprotein particles, which are implicated in cardiovascular diseases. He has authored or co-authored over 285 chapters and articles, and his work has been cited over 22,000 times.

University Honors and Awards

University Honors and Awards identifies and commemorates the achievements of those affiliated with Indiana University, including students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends. These honors demonstrate IU's breadth and depth of excellence in research, teaching, service, philanthropy, athletics, arts, performance and other creative endeavors. For photos and additional information about the 2021 Distinguished Professors, visit the University Honors and Awards website.