The University of Houston is a hub for discovery, innovation, and creativity thanks to the efforts of its talented faculty members. To recognize the many faculty who are elevating UH’s global reputation, the President’s Circle Awards were launched last year. These annual awards acknowledge professors for work that propels the University toward its goal of becoming a Top 50 public university.
The 2026 President’s Circle Awards were recently presented to 232 faculty members at UH’s Wortham House. The event, hosted by UH President Renu Khator, offered honorees an opportunity to receive their hard-earned honors and enjoy the company of their peers.
Spotlighting Impactful Contributions
The President’s Circle Awards spotlight faculty efforts in several key categories: high-impact publications, patents, single-author books, and major grant awards.
Among this year’s professors earning an award for single-author books is Melissa Noble, director of UH’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts and director of faculty affairs for the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts. Her book, “Collaboration Among the Arts: An Interdisciplinary Approach,” was published by Kendall-Hunt in 2024. It features contributions from UH faculty members Jeanette Joy Harris and Zachary Averyt, as well as Josephine Mitchell, who recently served as a Mitchell Center Scholar.
“I was so thrilled to be chosen for the President's Circle Award! Truly a lifetime achievement moment,” Noble said.
Beyond the personal honor, Noble is pleased that the awards serve as a platform to communicate faculty research to colleagues across campus. Likewise, they offer recipients a rare moment to reflect on the arduous work put into their projects.
“The President's Circle Awards are so important because sometimes your own colleagues don't know what you are doing,” Noble added. “It provides a full-circle moment to see where you are in relation to contemporaries and celebrate. So often we just move on to the next project. I think it is important to take time to honor what has been done.”
Innovation and Patents
Distinguished Professor Ganesh Thakur agrees that the awards are both rewarding and inspiring. Thakur, a professor in UH’s Department of Petroleum Engineering, earned an award for his patent, “Advanced Technique for Screening Enhanced Oil Recovery and Improved Oil Recovery Methodologies for a Petroleum Reservoir.”
"A patent award is much more than just recognition,” said Thakur, who also serves as director of UH Energy Industrial Partnerships. “It emphasizes that UH and our faculty are developing original, impactful, and usable knowledge. It is of tremendous value, including prestige, business impact, and revenue generation.”
Fellow patent honoree Eva Harth earned two President’s Circle Awards this year. Although Harth—a professor of chemistry—is no stranger to prestigious honors (having recently been named a National Academy of Inventors Fellow), she noted that these awards feel more personal.
“It is important to see that leadership sees the efforts of faculty and knows that we are working towards a common goal,” said Harth, director of the Welch Center of Excellence in Polymer Chemistry. “It leaves a personal and supportive touch.”
Harth was recognized for two patents: “Nanoparticles and Nanonetworks Formed Therefrom” and “Fluorinated Polymerization Catalysts and Methods of Making and Using the Same.”
By the Numbers
The President’s Circle Awards build on the tradition established by the 50-in-5 initiative, recognizing faculty achievements that enhance UH’s national profile.
A breakdown of this year’s awards is as follows:
Single-Author Books: 52
High Impact Journal Publications: 46
Major Grant Awards: 81
Patents: 25
National Recognition: 28