KU, K-State faculty receive 2026 Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards

LAWRENCE — Four faculty members at two Kansas universities were named recipients of the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards, the state higher education system’s most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence.

The annual awards are given in four categories of scholarly and creative achievement. This year’s honorees:

• David Farber, distinguished professor emeritus of history, KU, recipient of the Balfour Jeffrey Award in the Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences.
• Ruth Welti, University Distinguished Professor and Edwin G. & Lillian J. Brychta Chair of Biology, and director of core facilities, Kansas State University, recipient of the Olin Petefish Award in Basic Sciences.
• Kathleen Lynne Lane, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Special Education and director of human subjects research, KU, recipient of the Irvin Youngberg Award in Applied Sciences.
• X. Long Zheng, Russell J. Eilers MD Endowed Professor and chair of pathology & laboratory medicine, KU Medical Center, recipient of the Dolph Simons Award in Biomedical Sciences.

The four will be recognized at a ceremony April 14 along with recipients of other major KU research awards.

This is the 44th annual presentation of the Higuchi awards, established in 1981 by Takeru Higuchi, a distinguished professor at the University of Kansas from 1967 to 1983, his wife, Aya, and KU Endowment. The awards recognize exceptional long-term research accomplishments by faculty at Kansas Board of Regents universities. Each honoree receives $10,000 for ongoing research.  

The awards are named for former leaders of KU Endowment who helped recruit Higuchi to KU.

Balfour Jeffrey Award in the Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

David Farber is a professor emeritus and was the Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Modern America at KU. His work illuminates the relationship between American citizens and the power structures that shape their political action.

Farber is a prolific scholar whose writing has shaped numerous fields of historical study. He has been the sole author of seven books, co-author of four, editor of three and co-editor of three more. Farber’s work spans a wide range of topics, including the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the rise of General Motors, riots at the Democratic National Convention in 1968, the origins of the American conservative movement, the Iran hostage crisis and the crack cocaine epidemic. Colleagues note that his first book, “Chicago ’68,” was among the first to have seriously assessed the complex politics of 1960s America. Other works were similarly groundbreaking in the scholarly record.

He has been widely recognized for both the depth and breadth of his work within and outside of the academy. A review of his book “Crack: Rock Cocaine, Street Capitalism and the Decade of Greed” in the Guardian notes that the work “lives up to the promise of its title, moving deftly between social history, often lurid anecdotal evidence and a critique of the government’s ‘was on drugs.’“ He was elected to the Society of American Historians and is internationally recognized. Farber served as a visiting professor in Australia, France, Japan and Lebanon and held a Fulbright lectureship in Indonesia.

Farber received bachelor’s degrees in history and English from the University of Michigan and a doctorate in American history from the University of Chicago.

Olin Petefish Award in Basic Sciences

Ruth Welti is a University Distinguished Professor and Edwin G. & Lillian J. Brychta Chair of Biology at Kansas State University. She was appointed K-State’s director of core facilities in 2024. Her work focuses on plant lipid biochemistry.

Lipids are nonpolar compounds that include fats, waxes and oils. They constitute part of cell membranes in all living organisms and act as signaling molecules in many biological processes. Welti’s research helps illuminate how plants respond to changing environmental conditions and stress, providing important knowledge of plants, including crops of economic significance. She has pioneered methods of extracting lipids from biological samples and identifying and quantifying them through mass spectrometry. Her lab’s contributions have advanced understanding of basic lipid metabolism, including how plant lipid composition is remodeled in response to cold exposure and the characterization of critical enzymes present in plant stress responses.

Welti co-founded and serves as the director of the Kansas Lipidomics Research Center (KLRC). The center is used by researchers around the world and provides unique training opportunities for learners ranging from undergraduate students to postdoctoral researchers. Established in 2003, KLRC has been used by more than 600 laboratories, and over 480 scientific papers that include lipid profiling generated by the facility have been published since 2003. Welti herself has published more than 130 primary research articles and 28 additional reviews, methods papers and book chapters. She was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012 and designated a pioneer member of the American Society of Plant Biologists in 2023.

Welti received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Connecticut and a doctorate in biological chemistry from Washington University in Saint Louis.

Irvin Youngberg Award in Applied Sciences

Kathleen Lynne Lane is the Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Special Education and director of human subjects research at KU. She studies how to design, implement and sustain positive, productive school systems to support student success. 

Lane is distinguished by her contributions to the development of tiered systems of support. This includes being a leader in the design and dissemination of the Comprehensive, Integrated, Three-Tiered (Ci3T) model of prevention. The Ci3T model helps prevent academic and behavioral issues before they escalate by providing proactive, tiered support to students. This includes the use of universal screening, differentiated instruction and positive behavior interventions to enhance students’ academic success, productive engagement in school and well-being. One systemic screening tool, the Student Risk Screening Scale for Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors, enables educators to identify and support students at risk with more precision. Lane is a contributor to the tool.

The Ci3T research team collaborates with districts and schools across the United States, with many projects funded by the Institute of Education Sciences. More than 54 schools nationwide, including 24 Kansas schools, have benefited from professional development and implementation projects led by Lane and her research team. One Kansas principal noted that after implementing Ci3T, office referrals for behavioral issues dropped by 50% and teacher morale improved significantly.

Lane has published more than 260 peer-reviewed articles, contributed 56 book chapters and co-authored or edited 15 books. She has served as co-editor of Remedial and Special Education since 2010 and previously served as one of KU’s associate vice chancellors for research for seven years.

Lane received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in education from the University of California, Riverside.

Dolph Simons Award in Biomedical Sciences

X. Long Zheng is the Russell J. Eilers MD Endowed Professor and chair of pathology & laboratory medicine at KU Medical Center. His research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms, diagnosis and management of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) as well as vascular biology and thrombosis more broadly.

TTP is a rare but life-threatening medical emergency in which excessive blood clots form in small blood vessels, restricting blood flow to vital organs, including the brain, heart and kidneys. TTP is caused by deficiency of plasma ADAMTS13, an enzyme that keeps blood clots from forming when they are not needed. Zheng was among the first to identify and clone ADAMTS13, and he discovered autoimmunity as the primary cause of TTP. He also identified autoantibodies that inhibit the function of ADAMTS13 in TTP patients, a discovery that has improved diagnostic tools and treatment options for patients. Zheng led an international group of experts to develop both the first and revised guidelines for TTP diagnosis and management.

Zheng has published more than 160 peer-reviewed articles in high-profile journals and has contributed several books and book chapters. He holds four patents related to his research. Zheng earned the American Heart Association Established Investigator Award, the Bayer Hemophilia Award, the Karl Link New Investigator Award, the Research Innovation & Scientific Excellence (RISE) Award, the 2024 CAPA Distinguished Pathologist Award and many other professional recognitions. 

Zheng received a medical degree from Nanchang University and a doctorate in cell and molecular biology from the University of Vienna. He completed his residency in pathology and fellowship in transfusion medicine at Washington University in St. Louis.