PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (May 6, 2026) — Across a month of student discovery, faculty scholarship, responsible research practice, commercialization and industry engagement, Prairie View A&M University’s 2026 Research & Innovation Month brought the university’s growing research enterprise into full view.

Held under the theme “Where Legacy Meets Impact,” the month was far more than a series of events. It was a reflection of a university community rising together around discovery, responsibility, partnership and purpose.

Students stood beside their work and stepped into the visible practice of discovery. Faculty shared scholarship across disciplines and opened new possibilities for collaboration. Compliance leaders strengthened understanding around responsible research practice. Industry partners explored pathways for research to move beyond campus. Innovators learned how ideas can be protected, licensed and advanced toward real-world application. At the close of the month, the university paused to honor the faculty, students, staff and partners helping move PVAMU’s research enterprise forward.

Together, those moments told a larger story: research excellence is not built in isolation.

It is built when student talent is seen and supported. It is built when faculty work is connected across departments and colleges. It is built when research growth is strengthened by infrastructure, compliance, partnerships and recognition. It is built when a university community believes in what it is capable of becoming and does the steady work required to get there.

“Research & Innovation Month is more than a celebration. It is a reflection of the research enterprise we are building together” said Dr. Magesh T. Rajan, vice president for Research & Innovation. “In FY25, PVAMU reached $52 million in research expenditures, submitted more than $210 million in proposals and exceeded one of the two Carnegie R1 research activity benchmarks. But the deeper story is what those numbers represent: students stepping into discovery, faculty advancing meaningful scholarship, partners extending our reach and a university becoming more confident in its research future. Our progress is measurable, but it is also deeply human. Now we carry it forward with discipline, purpose and a clear commitment to Rise to R1.”

The month came during a period of significant momentum for PVAMU. In FY2025, the university reported $52 million in research expenditures, more than $210 million in proposals submitted, more than $85 million in sponsored awards and 464 proposals submitted. Research expenditures increased 148% over a six-year span, rising from $21 million in FY2020 to $52 million in FY2025. From FY2024 to FY2025 alone, expenditures increased 53%.

These milestones are not simply numbers. They represent students learning to see themselves as researchers, faculty pushing scholarship forward, partners choosing to engage and a university strengthening the conditions for long-term impact.

Student discovery takes center stage

Research & Innovation Month began with Student Research Day, one of the clearest examples of how research growth connects to student success.

More than 180 students participated through poster and oral presentations, sharing scholarly, creative and research work across disciplines. The program included student leader remarks, a keynote by Annabelle G. Aymond, associate program director for the Office of Undergraduate Research at Texas A&M University, graduate student oral presentations, undergraduate poster presentations and afternoon showcase sessions.

For students, the day offered more than a presentation slot. It offered a professional platform.

Throughout the day, undergraduate and graduate students stood beside their work, explained their methods, answered questions and stepped into the visible practice of discovery. In doing so, they practiced the habits that shape researchers: curiosity, discipline, communication, evidence and the courage to contribute something meaningful to a larger conversation.

President Tomikia P. LeGrande attended in support of PVAMU’s student researchers, underscoring the university’s commitment to student research as a central part of its broader growth strategy. 

At Prairie View, student research is not peripheral to the mission. It is one of the ways talent becomes visible. It is one of the ways students begin to understand that their voices belong in serious academic and professional spaces. That connection matters as PVAMU continues strengthening research opportunities at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

In FY2025, R&I supported more than 100 undergraduate research student projects and more than 50 graduate research students through the RISE program. The Doctoral Assistantship Program also opened applications in spring 2025, with 26 doctoral students funded beginning in fall 2025.

Student Research Day made that investment tangible. It showed students participating in the work of the university itself, building confidence as scholars and helping carry PVAMU’s research culture forward.

Compliance as a foundation for responsible growth 

As PVAMU’s research footprint expands, Research & Innovation Month also emphasized the systems that help research grow responsibly. 

TAMUS Export Control Training Part 2: International Research Compliance gave faculty, staff and students practical guidance on international travel best practices, new-hire screening requirements, publication restrictions and foreign person restrictions in contracts. 

The session featured Lauren Schroeder, executive director of the System Export Control Office, and Brian Ridenour of The Texas A&M University System, alongside Marco L. Robinson, director of research regulatory compliance at PVAMU. 

The training reinforced an essential point for a growing research enterprise: global engagement requires ambition and care. As faculty and students work across borders, build international collaborations and pursue increasingly complex research activity, compliance is not a barrier to progress. It is part of how progress is protected. 

That message carried through the month again during “Maintaining Research Integrity: QRPs and AI in Research,” which welcomed 43 participants online and in person. 

The session featured Dr. Stacy Pritt, associate vice chancellor and chief research compliance officer for The Texas A&M University System. Her presentation addressed ethical risks in AI, questionable research practices and the shared responsibility researchers have to protect the integrity of the research process. 

As AI becomes more embedded in research, the session offered a timely reminder that trust is part of research infrastructure. Strong institutions are not only measured by what they produce. They are also measured by how carefully, ethically and transparently that work is done. That is what Prairie View is committed to doing.

Faculty Scholarship Builds Collaboration

Faculty Research Day centered on scholarship, visibility and connection across PVAMU’s research community. 

The day featured a keynote by Dr. Sharmila Pathikonda, associate vice chancellor for research for The Texas A&M University System, followed by faculty research poster presentations and an afternoon Research Exchange designed to connect faculty across disciplines. 

The structure of the day mattered. It was not built as a passive showcase. It was designed to help excellent work become seen, understood and connected. 

Faculty across engineering, business, health, humanities, education, agriculture and other areas shared research that reflected the range of scholarly activity taking place across campus. The day gave faculty a platform to present their work with confidence while also inviting colleagues to look beyond familiar academic boundaries. 

One of the most meaningful moments emerged during the poster session, when Dr. Pathikonda engaged directly with faculty presenters and invited them to describe the significance of their work clearly and succinctly. The impromptu exchange gave faculty a valuable opportunity to practice communicating the value of their research to an external research leader. 

That skill matters. The ability to explain research clearly to different audiences supports funding competitiveness, partnership development and broader impact. 

The Research Exchange also created space for new interdisciplinary conversations. A Biology Department faculty member connected with a chemical engineer around a potential collaborative research effort. A faculty member from the School of Public and Allied Health connected with a colleague from another discipline to explore future research possibilities. 

These were practical outcomes from intentional programming. They showed how visibility can become connection and how connection can become future collaboration. 

Faculty Research Day also reflected PVAMU’s larger investment in the conditions that help faculty research grow. The inaugural Faculty Research Development Program brought together faculty across multiple colleges with structured support around proposal strategy, peer review and funding navigation. In FY25, the university supported more than 60 faculty through proposal development. 

The takeaway was clear: faculty excellence is already present at Prairie View. The work ahead is to strengthen the systems, resources and collaborations that allow that excellence to scale. 

Partnerships That Move Discovery Into Impact

On April 13, the Strategic Partnerships and Innovation Forum shifted the month’s focus outward, asking what it takes to move research beyond the campus in ways that are mutually beneficial, durable and mission-aligned. 

The forum’s theme, “From Discovery to Partnership: Accelerating Research Impact,” reflected a central priority for PVAMU Research & Innovation. Discovery is essential, but discovery reaches farther when it is connected to communities, industry and real-world needs. 

More than 50 participants joined the forum for tactical conversations around sponsored research, commercialization, startup development, economic development and external collaboration. Representatives from more than 15 segments of industry participated, including energy, venture and startup innovation, engineering and design, national laboratory research, economic development, commercialization and market intelligence.

Organizations represented included Shell, ExxonMobil, Plug and Play Tech Center, Sandia National Laboratories, Waller County Economic Development Partnership, the City of Waller, Texas Medical Center, TEX-E and Stantec. 

The forum was keynoted by Debnil Chowdhury, vice president, S&P Global, Americas head of refining and marketing, who spoke on the partnership imperative and the need to move research beyond the campus. 

The program also included a “From Lab to Launch” panel featuring Dr. Verrick Walker of Stantec, Vince Yokum of Waller County Economic Development Partnership and Mark Martin of Sandia National Laboratories. The discussion reinforced that universities and external partners must work together with greater intentionality to address shared priorities and translate ideas into impact.

What made the forum especially practical was its structure. Participants moved through themed partnership zones focused on corporate and industry sponsored research, foundation and philanthropic partnerships, commercialization and startups and community and economic development. 

The rotations were designed to help faculty, PVAMU representatives and external partners identify needs, strengths and potential next steps. The format encouraged direct conversation rather than general networking.

For PVAMU, the forum reflected a larger shift: partnerships are not supplemental to institutional growth. They are part of how growth happens. Strong partnerships expand research capacity, create student opportunity, support commercialization, strengthen workforce development and connect university knowledge to public value.

That direction also aligns with PVAMU’s recent APLU Innovation & Economic Prosperity designation, which signals sustained institutional commitment to partnership, innovation and economic engagement.

Innovation pathways support real-world impact 

Research & Innovation Month also extended into commercialization and intellectual property development through an April 29 seminar hosted by PVAMU’s Office of Innovation, Commercialization, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development. 

The session focused on commercialization and intellectual property licensing, equipping faculty, staff and students with a clearer understanding of how research can be translated into real-world application within The Texas A&M University System. 

Participants explored key concepts in protecting intellectual property, navigating the licensing process and using university resources to move innovations from discovery toward market. Janie Hurley, senior director of licensing for TAMU Innovation, served as a featured speaker. 

The event directly supported PVAMU’s broader innovation priorities by strengthening awareness of commercialization pathways, industry partnerships and funding opportunities. It also reinforced a larger message: research impact does not end at discovery. It grows through the systems, partnerships and protections that help ideas move forward. 

That work is already part of PVAMU’s research growth story. In FY25, the university reported 20 invention disclosures, four provisional patent applications, two utility applications and one licensing option agreement executed. 

Commercialization is not separate from research culture. It is one of the ways research becomes useful beyond the university and one of the ways faculty, staff and students can see their ideas move toward public benefit. 

Honoring the Work Behind the Rise

Research & Innovation Month gave PVAMU a moment to pause and recognize the people whose work is helping move the university’s research enterprise forward.

The R&I Reflections & Recognition Reception brought together faculty, staff, students, university leaders and partners for a program that honored Top Researcher awardees, principal investigators with top research expenditures, Student Research Day winners and graduating RISE students. Approximately 250 individuals attended the reception in person, reflecting the growing sense of shared ownership around PVAMU’s research progress.

The reception featured Dr. Rajan’s State of Research address, a defining moment that placed PVAMU’s recent growth in context and connected the university’s progress to the people, programs and systems helping move the research enterprise forward. The address showed that research expenditures, sponsored awards, proposal activity, student research, faculty development, innovation and partnership engagement are not separate measures of progress. Together, they reflect a university building research capacity with discipline, purpose and belief in what Prairie View can become.

President LeGrande also offered powerful remarks recognizing the extraordinary work happening across PVAMU, both inside and beyond the lab. She encouraged faculty to continue advancing knowledge, solving real-world problems and strengthening the kind of research activity that positions Prairie View A&M University as an institution the nation should be watching.

Watch highlights from the R&I Reflections & Recognition Reception. 

The reception was not simply about awards. It was about honoring the work behind the momentum. That work is happening in labs and classrooms, through proposals and partnerships, across administrative teams and in the mentorship that helps students see themselves as researchers.

Notably, the inaugural Millionaire’s Club recognized principal investigators who surpassed $1 million in research expenditures, including Dr. Lijun Qian, Electrical Engineering; Dr. Judy Perkins, Civil Engineering; Dr. Ram Ray, Agriculture; Dr. Raghava Kommalapati, Civil Engineering; and Dr. Ayodeji Iyanda, Division of Social Sciences.

The celebration captured one of the month’s most important truths: progress at this level is never carried by one office or one moment. It is built through students stepping into discovery, faculty pursuing meaningful scholarship, staff strengthening the systems that support research and partners helping extend Prairie View’s reach.

Building the Future of PVAMU Research

By the close of the month, PVAMU’s research story came into fuller view.

Student Research Day showed emerging scholars stepping forward with confidence. Faculty Research Day showed the depth of scholarship across campus and the value of intentional connection. Compliance and research integrity sessions showed that growth must be protected by rigor, responsibility and trust. The Strategic Partnerships and Innovation Forum showed how discovery can move into broader application through aligned partnerships. The commercialization seminar showed how ideas can be protected, licensed and moved toward market. The recognition reception honored the people whose work makes progress possible.

Together, these moments showed a university community doing the steady, disciplined work of building something larger than any single program, office or event.

PVAMU’s research enterprise is becoming more visible, more connected and more prepared for sustained growth. That work aligns with the university’s Journey to Eminence 2035 and its Rise to R1 priorities: growing research capacity, streamlining research processes, strengthening graduate programs and investing in research infrastructure.

In FY2025, that progress included startup support for new faculty, expanded proposal development, faculty research funding, equipment support across key academic units, student research support, compliance training and stronger administrative support. It also included $520,000 in Panther RISE funding, 13 collaborative teams, 55 proposals reviewed, major partner engagement with Texas A&M, Shell, Sandia and Princeton and approval of $1.98 million in semiconductor workforce development funding.

These details matter because they show that momentum is not simply being celebrated at Prairie View. It is being built through people, systems, partnerships and belief in what this university can become.

As PVAMU continues its Journey to Eminence, Research & Innovation Month offered a clear view of the future already taking shape: students stepping into discovery, faculty advancing knowledge, partners engaging with purpose and a university community rising together around work that matters.

That is where legacy meets impact.

And that is how Prairie View A&M University continues building its bright future through boundless research, bold partnerships and a clear commitment to Rise to R1.