CLEVELAND -- Dr. James Springstead, associate professor in chemical and paper engineering at Western Michigan University, has been named an Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success winner by the Mid-American Conference Academic Consortium.

Springstead represents WMU as one of 12 institutional award winners, representing each of the full member institutions of the MAC. This student-focused award is distinguishable from academic or research-based awards as it celebrates the commitment of the MAC to a holistic student experience and the creation of an environment that supports success in school and in life.  
 
Eligibility for this award is broad in nature in an effort to identify a wide range of outstanding means by which faculty are significantly impacting students, and to create an opportunity to recognize the various ways that student success is supported within the MAC.  It is the hope of this award that the twelve nominees represent a diverse community that demonstrate support for student success throughout their entire collegiate experience.

The list of the institutional winners from each MAC school can be found below. The winner of the 2021 Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success will be announced on Friday, May 14.  

Dr. James Springstead received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2001, and then earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2008, under the direction of Harold Monbouquette. During his studies at UCLA, Dr. Springstead discovered and characterized a novel trifunctional polypeptide and characterized the membrane lipid of the hypethermophilic archaeon, Archaeoglobus fulgidus, using mass spectrometry. Furthermore, he developed a method to measure the thermal area expansivity of lipid vesicles with multi angle laser light scattering, applicable as a quality control method for liposomes used in drug delivery and other industries. During his time at UCLA he also taught classes in chemical engineering and molecular biotechnology and held leadership positions in several UCLA organizations.

Immediately following his Ph.D. studies, Dr. Springstead joined the prolific Atherosclerosis Research Unit in the Cardiology Division of the UCLA Department of Medicine as a postdoctoral researcher, his present position, performing research under the direction of Dr. Andrew Watson and Dr. Judith Berliner. In this work, he applies his enthusiasm and expertise in studying lipid chemistry to solving biological problems and studying lipids involved in medicine. He specifically uses mass spectrometry, western blotting, and microarray analysis to study the activation of endothelial cells by oxidized phospholipids, an event which can lead to the development of atherosclerosis, an underlying condition in heart disease and stroke. In his future research, he will further elucidate the mechanisms involved in atherosclerosis, and he will also explore the development and delivery of novel therapeutics for treatment of atherosclerosis.