UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Luis Ayala, William A. Fustos Family Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State, is the recipient of the 2022 Howard B. Palmer Faculty Mentoring Award.
The award honors and recognizes outstanding achievement by a faculty member with at least five years of service who effectively guides junior faculty. Howard Palmer was the senior associate dean of The Graduate School from 1984 to 1991.
Nominators said Ayala has been a trusted colleague, mentor and friend to junior faculty members. One of those faculty members credits Ayala with jump starting his career. He said Ayala allowed him to join one of his sponsored research projects, which cultivated a collaboration with the same sponsor.
“Dr. Ayala has been an excellent mentor. Throughout the tenure process, he helped me become familiar with the University’s resources and culture, offered advice to improve teaching practices and gave constructive feedback,” the nominator said. “He also gave invaluable guidance to identify solutions to problems and navigate challenging situations, often sharing knowledge and personal experience. I have greatly appreciated his empathy, support, sense of humor, and willingness to help. He truly represents a model for the role of mentor to junior faculty members.”
Ayala has been paired with several junior faculty members through a mentoring program started by the college’s Faculty Advisory Committee, which pairs a departmental and external mentor with faculty during their first year of hire.
“I have watched for nearly eight years as Luis has gone out of his way to mentor graduate students, junior faculty, and any other colleague who needed advice or another perspective,” a nominator said. “He genuinely cares about the success of each individual in our department, and has made our department, our college and Penn State a far better place as a result.”
It’s not the first time Ayala has been lauded. Previously, he earned the college’s three highest distinctions for mentoring, advising and inclusion: the Outstanding Faculty Mentoring Award, the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award and the inaugural recipient of the 2021 Charles Hosler Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award.