PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (May 6, 2026) —Prairie View A&M University’s 2026 Research & Innovation Month brought the university’s expanding research enterprise into full view, giving students, faculty, staff, university leaders and partners a shared stage to show how research is growing across campus.
Held under the theme “Where Legacy Meets Impact” the month was far more than a series of events. Students stepped into discovery. Faculty shared scholarship across disciplines. Compliance leaders strengthened responsible research practices. Industry partners explored pathways for PVAMU research to move beyond campus and innovators examined how ideas can be protected, licensed and advanced toward public value.
Together, those moments told a larger story: research excellence is not built in isolation.
“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.”
That momentum extended across the full research lifecycle. In FY2025, PVAMU submitted 464 proposals, secured more than $85 million in sponsored awards and continued a six-year rise in research expenditures from $21 million in FY2020 to $52 million in FY2025. From FY2024 to FY2025 alone, expenditures increased 53%.
Partnerships That Move Discovery Into Impact
On April 13, the “Strategic Partnerships and Innovation Forum” turned the month outward, focusing on how PVAMU research can move beyond campus through partnerships that are durable, mutually beneficial and connected to real-world needs.
Tactical conversation around moving research beyond the campus and into mutually beneficial partnerships, real-world application and measurable impact
The forum’s theme, “From Discovery to Partnership: Accelerating Research Impact,” captured the purpose clearly: discovery reaches farther when faculty, industry leaders, economic development partners and research stakeholders are in the same room working toward shared priorities.
More than 50 participants joined conversations around sponsored research, commercialization, startup development, economic development and external collaboration. Representatives from more than 15 industry and partner segments participated, including energy, venture and startup innovation, engineering and design, national laboratory research, economic development, commercialization and market intelligence.
The Strategic Partnerships and Innovation Forum brought faculty, institutional representatives and external partners together to explore sponsored research, commercialization, economic development and real-world impact.
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 featured keynote remarks from 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 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. Their discussion reinforced a central message of the forum: universities and external partners must work with intention to address shared priorities and translate ideas into impact.
The forum’s structure helped move that message into practice. Participants rotated 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 helped faculty, PVAMU representatives and external partners move from introductions to shared needs, strengths and possible next steps. The format made the forum less about general networking and more about finding areas of alignment that could lead to meaningful partnership.
For PVAMU, that matters. Partnerships are not simply additions to research growth. They help expand 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, reflecting the university’s sustained commitment to partnership, innovation and economic engagement.
Student discovery takes center stage
At “Student Research Day” the connection between research growth and student success was immediately clear. The day placed undergraduate and graduate students at the center of PVAMU’s research story, giving them space to present their work, answer questions and take their place as emerging scholars.
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.
Students shared their research, answered questions and connected with attendees during Student Research Day, highlighting the next generation of scholars helping advance PVAMU’s growing research enterprise.
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 and answered questions from faculty, judges, leaders and peers. In doing so, they practiced the habits that shape researchers: curiosity, discipline, communication, evidence and the confidence to contribute 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 how talent becomes visible and how 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.
Faculty Scholarship Builds Collaboration
“Faculty Research Day” brought PVAMU scholarship into fuller view and created space for faculty to connect across disciplines.
The program 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.
The structure mattered. This was not a passive showcase. It was designed to help strong work be seen, understood and connected to future collaboration.
Faculty from engineering, business, health, humanities, education, agriculture and other areas shared research that reflected the breadth of scholarly activity across campus. The day gave faculty a platform to present with confidence while inviting colleagues to look beyond familiar academic boundaries.
Faculty Research Day highlighted scholarly work across PVAMU, creating space for researchers to share findings, exchange ideas and strengthen connections across disciplines.
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 members attend Faculty Research Day, engaging with presentations and discussions that highlight research activity across Prairie View A&M University.
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.
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” 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.
Research & Innovation Month highlighted responsible research growth through TAMUS export control training on international research compliance and travel best practices.
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.
The focus on responsible growth continued during “Maintaining Research Integrity: QRPs and AI in Research” which welcomed 43 participants.
The session featured Dr. Stacy Pritt, associate vice chancellor and chief research compliance officer for The Texas A&M University System, who addressed ethical risks in AI, questionable research practices and the shared responsibility researchers carry to protect the integrity of the research process.
As AI becomes more embedded in research, the session reinforced a timely point: trust is part of research infrastructure. Strong institutions are measured not only by what they produce, but by the care, ethics and transparency behind the work.
Innovation pathways support real-world impact
Research & Innovation Month continued with the “Commercialization and Intellectual Property Seminar“, hosted April 29 by PVAMU’s Office of Innovation, Commercialization, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development.
The session focused on commercialization and intellectual property licensing, giving faculty, staff and students a clearer understanding of how PVAMU research can move from discovery toward real-world application.
Participants explored how to protect intellectual property, navigate licensing and use university resources to move promising ideas toward market. Janie Hurley, senior director of licensing for TAMU Innovation, served as a featured speaker.
The seminar supported PVAMU’s broader innovation priorities by strengthening awareness of commercialization pathways, industry partnerships and funding opportunities. It reinforced an important point: research impact does not end with discovery. It grows when ideas are protected, guided and connected to pathways that help them reach public use.
That work is already part of PVAMU’s research growth story. In FY2025, the university reported 20 invention disclosures, four provisional patent applications, two utility applications and one licensing option agreement.
Commercialization is one part of a strong research culture. It helps faculty, staff and students see how their ideas can move beyond the university and contribute to public benefit.
Honoring the Work Behind the Rise
Research & Innovation Month gave PVAMU a moment to pause and recognize the people behind the university’s research momentum.
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 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 strengthening the research enterprise. 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 delivered 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.
The R&I Reflections & Recognition Reception brought the university community together to reflect on a year of research growth, recognize excellence and look toward the next phase of PVAMU’s research progress
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.
Moments from the R&I Reflections & Recognition Reception captured a community coming together to celebrate excellence, applaud faculty and student achievement and recognize the people helping strengthen PVAMU’s research enterprise.
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 had moved from celebration to direction.
Research & Innovation Month showed a university building capacity in visible and practical ways: students gaining access to discovery, faculty developing competitive ideas, responsible research practices growing stronger and partnerships connecting university knowledge to public value.
That work aligns with PVAMU’s Journey to Eminence 2035 and 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 are not standalone achievements. They are pieces of a larger institutional build: the people, systems, partnerships and belief required to sustain research growth over time.
Research & Innovation Month made that future visible. Students stepped into discovery. Faculty advanced knowledge. Partners engaged with purpose. A university community moved 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.