An assistant professor of physics, Ben Evans will use the professorship to deepen the scholarly experience of his undergraduate researchers.
*****
Assistant Professor Benjamin “Ben” Evans in the Department of Physics has been selected as the fourth recipient of the A.L. Hook Emerging Scholar Professorship in Science and Mathematics at Elon University.
The professorship provides funding and opportunities for faculty to mentor students and involve undergraduates in research and special projects. Evans will receive an annual salary supplement, research materials and funds for travel and student research. He will hold the rotating professorship for a three-year term.
An active mentor to undergraduate researchers, Evans has focused his research since coming to Elon on artificial cilia systems and magnetic microspheres, the latter of which may have the potential to revolutionize the way drugs are delivered to tumors without the side effects of current cancer treatment regimes.
He has worked extensively with undergraduate researchers from a variety of disciplines, including physics, biology, engineering and biochemistry. His own work, and that of the students he has mentored, has helped him publish research in four journal articles and one book chapter. In addition, he has presented at a regional conference and two international conferences.
Nine students in all have worked in his lab since Evans first joined the Elon University faculty in 2008.
“It is clear that those who designed this award were familiar with the challenges of a new faculty member, and that the award is well-designed to have the greatest impact on my research and my work with undergraduate students at this early point in my career,” Evans said. “The aid provided by the Hook Professorship will be an immeasurable help in … allowing me to better provide for student researchers and therefore fulfill my obligation to my department and meet the needs of the university.”
Evans has a doctorate in physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor of science in physics from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn.
Tommy Holmes and Harris L. Hendricks, Elon alumni, established the A.L. Hook Emerging Scholar Professorship in Science and Mathematics to honor former physics and mathematics professor, Alonzo Lohr Hook, and to support science, research and student involvement at Elon. Previous faculty members who have held the professorship are Crista Arangala, Kyle Altmann and Kathryn Matera.