SIU’s Gower Fellows Program is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Celebrations will include a poster presentation and a symposium on Sept. 25th and lab tours on Sept. 26th, all at the Gower Translational Research Center. (Photo by Russell Bailey)
September 22, 2026
SIU’s Gower Research Award Symposium to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fellowship program
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Gower Research Award Symposium is a celebration and recognition of the year’s Gower Fellows. This year, the Gower Fellows Program celebrates its 20th anniversary with a special visit from the Gower family and the return of past fellows.
The symposium takes place Sept. 25-26 and showcases the research of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Sciences. The public is invited to the event to meet students, researchers and professors as well as tour the Gower Translational Research Center.
Symposium highlights
The event kickoff is on Friday, Sept. 25, from 3 to 4 p.m. with a poster presentation and reception where undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral researchers will showcase their research projects and be available to discuss their research findings with attendees. The Gower Symposium takes place immediately following the poster presentations, when this year’s Gower Fellows will be recognized in the presence of the Gower family and present the research they conducted with the support of the Gower Fellowship. This year’s event is particularly special as several Gower Fellows from the early years of the program will return to campus, providing an opportunity to celebrate the current fellows and the fellowship’s impact over the past 20 years.
At the symposium, it will be announced that Qingfeng Ge, current Director of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Science, will become the inaugural Gower Director of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Sciences. It marks the first named directorship in the College of Agricultural, Life and Physical Sciences and represents another important milestone in the Gower family’s longstanding support of chemistry at SIU.
The Gower Reunion takes place on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The reunion includes networking and tours of the Gower Translational Research Center. The center is located at 1785 University Press Drive, Carbondale, IL 6290. The public is invited to the poster session, award presentations and tours, and no registration is required.
20 years of discovery
Each year, for the past 20 years, the competitive Gower fellowship has been awarded to two to three graduate students with full stipend support for the summer and a monetary award. Eligible applicants are Ph.D. students who have been admitted to candidacy. A faculty committee reviews applications each March, and fellows are announced in time to begin their summer research. Since its inception in 2006, the program has supported more than 54 Ph.D. candidates.
This year’s Gower Fellows are:
- Tahir Awais, a fourth-year doctoral student, is a research assistant in professor Kyle Plunkett’s chemical and biomolecular sciences lab. The title of Awais’ award presentation is “Towards the Reversible Singlet Fission Materials Based on Hypervalent Iodine Macrocyles.” He was awarded a Dissertation Research Award for fall 2026 and spring 2027 and graduated with a master’s degree from the National University of Management and Technology in Pakistan.
- Mohammad Asad, a fifth-year doctoral student, is a research assistant in professor Mohtashim Shamsi’s chemical and biomolecular sciences lab. The title of Asad’s award presentation is "Electrochemical Quantification of Nucleic Acids Immobilized on 2D MoS₂." He was awarded a Dissertation Research Award for fall 2026 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh.
In 2024, the Bob and Beth Gower dedicated $2.5 million to advance the mission and support the research activities taking place across campus. In honor of this gift, the McLafferty Annex was renamed to the Gower Translational Research Center.
Bob, a West Frankfort native, met Beth while both were studying at SIU. He graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry in 1958 and 1960, and she graduated in 1961. Bob built a distinguished career in the chemical and energy industries, serving as CEO and chairman of Lyondell Petrochemical Company and co-founding Carbon Nanotechnologies, Inc.