LSU’s Dr. Isiah Warner Is Changing the Demographics of the Sciences

Though no one in his immediate family ever received a high school diploma, Dr. Isiah Warner said he was “born for science.”

At 10 years old, his parents gave him a chemistry set, and by high school, he knew he would major in chemistry. While in high school, he took an IQ test that awarded him a full scholarship to Southern University. He also joined a summer chemistry program that helped him do so well, he was able to skip his first year of college chemistry.

For the last 25 years, way before he was featured in SEC TV commercials, Dr. Warner has held the position of Boyd Professor of Chemistry at Louisiana State University (LSU). The Boyd Professorship, the highest professional rank awarded by the LSU System, is given only to professors who have attained national or international distinction for outstanding teaching, research, or other creative achievement. Dr. Warner is also the Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and the Philip W. West Chair of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry.

In 2016, Dr. Warner was named SEC Professor of the Year, and it’s easy to see why. Not only has he had more than 340 referenced publications in a variety of chemistry journals and collected a great number of awards in his field, he’s done everything in his power to advance underrepresented minorities in the sciences. When he first came to the chemistry department at LSU, there had never been more than three African-Americans in chemistry at one time. Now that number is between 25 and 30 each year. He even won the 2014 Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Advancing Diversity in Chemical Sciences. LSU’s President Dr. F. King Alexander said, “Dr. Isiah Warner is an internationally recognized and highly acclaimed scientist who is also a passionate educator and mentor. Because of his unwavering commitment and success in mentoring underrepresented minorities in the STEM disciplines, LSU is ranked first in the nation in the production of African-Americans with PhDs in chemistry.”

Dr. Warner is considered one of the world’s experts in the analytical application of fluorescence spectroscopy, but his true calling is to support his students. “It’s that nurturing environment, giving them tools, and building their confidence — making them believe they could do anything they want to do,” he said. “That’s what I had along the way. At every step, I had someone telling me I could do it.” And he’s doing just that — making his students believe they can, so they are. To this day, he’s graduated 56 PhDs from his laboratory who “have gone on to distinguished careers in academics, government, and industry.”

It’s safe to say Dr. Warner has more than earned his Boyd Professorship.

In the SEC, It Just Means More.

To Dr. Warner, It Just Means More Mentoring the Next Generation of Problem Solvers.