Feb. 2, 2016
Richard Lunt was awarded MSU Teacher-Scholar Award Feb. 9, 2016
For the respect he has earned from students and colleagues early in his career, Richard Lunt received a 2016 Teacher-Scholar Award during MSU’s 
annual awards convocation 3:30 p.m. Feb. 9 at Wharton Center.
MSU presents the Teacher-Scholar Award to faculty members for their devotion to and skill in teaching, and whose instruction is linked to and informed by their research and creative activities. MSU will present six Teacher-Scholar Awards in 2016. The MSU Office of University Development supports the award.
Richard Lunt, assistant professor
Michigan State University College of Engineering
Lunt is a prolific scholar and entrepreneur in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, who brings a deep passion for renewable energy research and education to MSU. A pioneer in renewable energy and energy efficient technologies, he has developed exceptional excitonic materials for applications in enhancing solar harvesting and building efficiency. His research is expanding the possibilities for seamless deployment of energy harvesting systems, efficient light emitting systems, and the potential of excitonic electronic device functionality. His creative merging of the principles of chemistry, materials science, physics, and engineering has made all of his efforts possible.
Lunt’s commitment to student education is exemplified in the 30-plus undergraduate students he mentored in sustainable energy technologies in his research laboratory and though the Student Planning of Advanced Retrofit Technology Applications (SPARTA) group. Lunt is exuberant in his excitement for renewable energy and one of his students noted, “Dr. Lunt’s endless enthusiasm, tremendous knowledge base, and remarkable accessibility make him a truly outstanding professor and researcher.”
Lunt connects his renewable energy research to the course curriculum in a number of creative ways. He has developed an Energy Minor for the College of Engineering that focuses on key topics of fundamental laws that guide energy generation, utilization, conservation, engineering applications, and the impact of energy within a societal and geological context. This minor will provide students with a foundation in energy sciences that is applicable to many disciplines and will better prepare students for careers in energy. He also finds creative ways to integrate his energy/related research themes directly into the chemical engineering and materials science courses he teaches. Lunt’s ultimate goal is to captivate students in STEM by fostering scientific excitement and allowing students to see themselves as important contributors to solving science’s and engineering’s grand challenges.
Lunt’s list of recent awards include:
- 2016 National Academy of Engineering’s U.S. Frontiers of Engineering (USFOE) symposium
- 2015 Ovshinsky Sustainable Energy Fellowship
- 2015 MSU Innovation of the Year Award
- 2015 “35 Innovators Under 35 List” by the MIT Technology Review
- 2015 MSU Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentor of the Year
- 2014 Camille and Henry Dreyfus Award in Environmental Chemistry
- 2013 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
- 2013 DuPont Young Professor Award
