Endowed lectureship established, named for Arthur L. Haas

The LSU School of Medicine and LSU Health Sciences Center are pleased to announce the establishment of the Arthur L. Haas Endowed Lectureship.  An anonymous donor made a $100,000 gift to fund this lectureship in honor of Dr. Haas' illustrious career in research, mentoring, and academic leadership and to support higher education within the School's membership and the New Orleans public.  University-wide endowed lectureships are rare and this is the first such major philanthropic contribution to the basic science departments in our School. 

LSU is extremely fortunate to have Dr. Haas in its ranks.  Following his faculty member service at the Medical College of Wisconsin from 1983-2004, he began his career at LSU in 2004 as the Roland Coulson Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.  He is internationally recognized for his discovery and elucidation of ubiquitin and other ubiquitin-like proteins.  This work that began in the early 1980s has had significant and far-reaching impact in the basic and clinical sciences.  It has spawned the research field of understanding how protein breakdown is controlled in cells, led to current anticancer drugs used in the clinic, and been cited in the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Irwin Rose (his postdoctoral advisor), Avram Hershko, and Aaron Ciechanover.  Dr. Haas has served on 12 US and European grant panels, has been an editorial board member of 6 journals, and refereed scientific manuscripts for 50 journals.  He has received over $7.8 million in research funding and been invited for 95 seminars around the world.  He has served on 41 dissertation committees, trained 17 PhD students, and mentored 11 postdoctoral associates.

The Haas Endowed Lectureship will be awarded to outstanding scholar-teachers.  Honorees will mirror and embody Dr. Haas' dedication and service to scientific scholarship and academic leadership.  Dr. Haas will establish the eligibility criteria, nomination procedure, and candidate selection.  An annual Arthur L. Haas Endowed Lecture will be held in perpetuity; the inaugural public lecture will be in 2015 at the LSU New Orleans campus.