BATON ROUGE — LSU on Friday elevated six people to its Boyd Professorship to recognize national or international achievements in their fields.

Until Friday, only 79 previous faculty members were so honored. The Boyd Professorship is named in honor of Thomas and David Boyd, early presidents and faculty members at LSU.

The new group is the largest one to be named at the same time. 

“These scholars are advancing knowledge in ways that reach far beyond our campuses, and their work is helping to define LSU’s place on the national and global stage," interim LSU president Matt Lee said.

The professors honored are:

-Mette Gaarde, Les and Dot Broussard Alumni Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Science, LSU A&M;
-John Maxwell Hamilton, Hopkins P. Breazeale LSU Foundation Professor, Manship School of Mass Communication, LSU A&M;
-Steven Heymsfield, Professor of Metabolism and Body Composition, Pennington Biomedical Research Center;
-Michael Khonsari, Dow Chemical Endowed Chair and Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, LSU A&M;
-Alexander Mikaberidze, Professor of History, Ruth Herring Noel Endowed Chair, College of Arts & Sciences, LSU-Shreveport; and 
-R. Kelley Pace, Professor, Department of Finance, E. J. Ourso College of Business, LSU A&M.