Varkey, a native of rural south India who joined HSU in 1994, was honored by the Academic Senate’s Faculty Awards Committee with the approval of President Rollin Richmond. The panel recognized Varkey for “superlative teaching, mentoring, research and creative activities.”
A specialist in cellular and molecular genetics, Varkey is credited with establishing broader involvement of under-represented students in the ‘STEM’ fields of science, technology, engineering and math and with building a biotechnology infrastructure that has enabled Humboldt State to offer the latest coursework in molecular biology. He directs HSU’s Alliance for Minority Participation program and coordinates the campus’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program.
Varkey has secured more than $3.5 million during his tenure to advance undergraduate research and affiliated activities, including 14 years of continuous HHMI support and funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
The general public is invited to attend the Nov. 17 lecture.