Jonathan Hibshman Wins Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award
The annual award supports promising tenure-track faculty members during the first two years of their academic appointments.
Jonathan Hibshman, assistant professor in Southern Methodist University's Department of Biological Sciences, has been selected to receive a 2026 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, a nationally competitive honor that recognizes outstanding early-career faculty in science, engineering, mathematics, and related fields.
Administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), the annual award supports promising tenure-track faculty members during the first two years of their academic appointments. ORAU is an association of 160 institutions that serve as leading experts for federal, state, and local governments. The organization connects academics, the government, and industry to promote collaboration and address the nation’s most pressing challenges. This year, 36 faculty members from institutions across the United States received the award.
The Powe Award provides $5,000 in research funding, which will be matched by SMU through support from the Department of Biological Sciences, bringing the total investment in Hibshman's research program to $10,000.
"This award is an encouraging early affirmation of the value of my lab's work and recognition of its potential going forward," Hibshman said.
Hibshman joined SMU in August 2024 after earning his Ph.D. from Duke University and completing postdoctoral research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research seeks to understand how certain organisms, including tardigrades and roundworms, survive extreme environmental conditions such as complete dehydration.
The funding will help Hibshman's team investigate proteins that become more abundant during desiccation and determine how they contribute to the animal's survival. The project is expected to generate foundational insights into stress tolerance mechanisms that could eventually inform new approaches for preserving sensitive biological materials without refrigeration.
"Seed funding programs such as the Powe Award are critical for helping early-career researchers pursue innovative ideas and generate the preliminary data needed for larger external grants," Hibshman said.
The Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award is among the nation's most respected early-career faculty development programs, providing recipients with resources to advance promising research programs and establish long-term research trajectories.
For more information about Hibshman's research, visit the Hibshman Lab website at hibshmanlab.org.