BATON ROUGE — The LSU Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Friday to name three faculty members as Boyd Professors, the most distinguished and highest professorial rank awarded by LSU.

Aaron Sheehan-Dean, James Garand and Peter Katzmarzyk received the honor, which recognizes faculty who bring national and international recognition to the university through outstanding achievements.

"This is a historic moment for LSU. Since it was established 73 years ago, only 85 faculty members from across all of LSU's campuses have ever been named Boyd Professors," said President Wade Rousse. "It is a tremendous honor that reflects the lasting contributions of these faculty members. On behalf of the LSU family, I extend my sincere congratulations to Drs. Sheehan-Dean, Garand and Katzmarzyk."

The Boyd Professorship was established by the LSU Board of Supervisors in 1953. Nominations go through a multi-step review process involving college-level endorsement, campus review, evaluation by dozens of distinguished scholars and final approval by the chancellor, president and board.

Boyd Professors receive a salary set at no less than the 95 percentile of full professors in comparable disciplines at peer public institutions across the southeastern United States. They also receive an annual stipend to support their research and scholarly work.

"Boyd Professors represent the highest levels of academic and research excellence at LSU," said Chancellor Jim Dalton. "The title is both an honor and an important responsibility. These scholars are recognized as leaders not only among our faculty but also among their peers around the world, helping us in our pursuit of becoming a top 50 public research university."

Sheehan-Dean holds the Fred C. Frey Endowed Chair in the Department of History at LSU. He is a recognized scholar of 19-century U.S. history with expertise in the Civil War and Reconstruction, the history of the U.S. South and early American history.

Since arriving at LSU in 2013, he has published three single-authored academic monographs, five edited volumes, 13 articles and book chapters and the most recent edition of a widely used U.S. history textbook. His book "The Calculus of Violence: How Americans Fought the Civil War" received several awards including the Jefferson Davis Book Prize from the American Civil War Museum and a Choice Outstanding Academic Title designation.

Garand holds the Emogene Pliner Distinguished Professor title in the Department of Political Science at LSU A&M. Over a career spanning four decades at LSU, he has published approximately 100 articles and chapters, participated in more than 200 professional conferences and mentored dozens of students.

His work has more than 5,600 citations and an h-index of 40. In 2025, the Southern Political Science Association created the "James C. Garand Mentoring Award" in his honor, an endowed award to be presented annually.

Katzmarzyk holds the Marie Edana Corcoran Endowed Chair in Pediatric Obesity and Diabetes and serves as associate executive director for Population and Public Health Sciences at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. His research examines physical activity, sedentary behavior, obesity, chronic disease prevention, pediatric health and health disparities.

He has produced more than 745 peer-reviewed publications and has 58,000 citations in the world literature with an h-index of 109. He has been named a Highly Cited Researcher for six consecutive years, placing him among the top 1% of scientists globally.

Since joining Pennington Biomedical Research Center in 2007, Katzmarzyk has secured nearly $58 million in funding as a principal investigator from agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Heart Association.