Bruce Hungate, professor of biological sciences and director of NAU’s Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, has been promoted to Regents’ professor.
Hungate was approved by the Academic Affairs Committee of the Arizona Board of Regents last week. He had been recommended by NAU after a nomination and review process. The appointment becomes effective in the fall.
Appointment as a Regents’ professor is one of the highest honors the university bestows on its faculty. The title is reserved for faculty with exceptional achievements that have brought them national or international distinction and whose work is of superior quality according to standards set by leading scholars in the field.
“Bruce Hungate’s research and service to NAU for nearly 20 years demonstrate this is a well-deserved honor,” President Rita Cheng said. “He has a stellar record for earning external support, is a well-respected scholar and is regarded as an international leader in his field.”
Hungate, who joined NAU in 1998, focuses his research on ecosystem processes and the ecology and management of global change. His research occurs in grasslands, woodlands, forests, and rivers in the temperate zone, boreal forests in Siberia and tropical forests of the Amazon basin. He has taught courses in general ecology, microbial ecology, ecosystem ecology and stable isotope techniques. He also co-founded the Professional Science Masters’ degree program in Climate Science and Solutions at Northern Arizona University.
“I am thrilled and humbled – it’s quite an honor. NAU is a wonderful place, and I’m very grateful to my all my colleagues – students, staff, faculty and administrators – here at NAU for making the past 17 years both so interesting and so much fun,” Hungate said.