Two CHHS faculty receive "Distinguished Professor" designations

At the NDSU State of the University address yesterday, President David Cook recognized the 2025 Distinguished Professors. The College of Health and Human Sciences is honored to have two outstanding faculty Yeong Rhee and Jagdish Singh.

Yeong Rhee, PhD, RD, is a professor and department head of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences and has been at NDSU for 23 years. Rhee’s transformative leadership as Department Head of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Science has led to a 563% increase in external grant funding, expanded research output, and successful accreditation across multiple academic programs.

Rhee’s personal research focus is on the prevention of chronic diseases through behavior changes such as nutrition education and nutrition intervention using functional food/antioxidant/trace elements, and teaches introductory and advanced nutrition along with medical nutrition therapy.

Rhee’s dedication to mentoring faculty and students, along with her impactful research in chronic disease prevention and community health, exemplifies her commitment to excellence in education, research, and service.

Jagdish Singh, PhD, is professor and chair of the department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and has been at NDSU 30 years. Singh’s leadership has elevated the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences to national prominence, with over 250 peer-reviewed publications, continuous federal funding, and major contributions to multimillion-dollar research initiatives.

Singh’s personal research efforts focus on the mechanistic studies for developing and testing novel delivery technologies to deliver biotechnologically derived molecules (e.g., peptide, protein, and gene) for the prevention and treatment of brain disorders, neurogenic hypertension, and diabetes while teaching pharmaceutical dosage forms and delivery Systems to PharmD students, and Advanced Biopharmaceutics to PhD students. Singh’s mentorship and dedication have profoundly impacted students and faculty alike.

When faculty are nominated, the nomination is evaluated based on the nominee’s academic record, which must reflect outstanding and sustained contributions in research/creative activity, instruction, and service. Candidates must demonstrate a significant impact beyond their individual program, exemplifying excellence in all three areas.