“Accolades” features the achievements of Old Dominion University’s faculty and staff, highlighting the honors and awards they have received and displaying their dedication, expertise and contributions in their respective fields. You can find the submission form on the University Communications web page. 

headshot of Remica Bingham-Risher

Remica Bingham-Risher’s most recent book, “Room Swept Home,” is a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize. The book is a work of poems containing historical and family photographs published by Wesleyan University Press. Bingham-Risher is the director of Quality Enhancement Plan Initiatives, a lecturer in the English Department and teaches in ODU’s English and Women’s and Gender Studies programs. She is a Cave Canem Fellow and Affrilachian Poet. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Writer’s Chronicle, Callaloo and Essence. She is the author of “Conversion,” “What We Ask of Flesh,” “Starlight & Error” and the memoir "Soul Culture: Black Poets, Books and Questions That Grew Me Up." 

headshot of Khan Ifekharuddin

Khan Iftekharuddin, Ph.D., a professor of electrical and computer engineering and the Batten Endowed Chair in Machine Learning, was elected to the 2025 Fellow’s Class of Optica, an organization which includes scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. He was honored for his leadership and contributions to research and development of 3D medical imaging analysis, computational modeling, pattern recognition and human-system interaction. He has also conducted research in AI and machine learning; medical imaging; genomics, and proteomics analysis for precision medicine; human-machine interaction and cyber-physical systems and cybersecurity. Dr. Iftekharuddin leads a research group in the Vision Lab and serves as inaugural director of the Virginia Beach Institute of Data Science. Previously, he served as an interim dean, associate dean and a department chair at ODU. Before moving into academia, he was a senior systems engineer involved in software development, process improvement and automatic target recognition.

headshot of Yiannis Papelis

Yiannis Papelis, Ph.D., chief technology officer for the Office of Enterprise Research and Innovation (OERI) and executive director of the Virginia Institute for Spaceflight & Autonomy was appointed to the Aerospace Advisory Board by Governor Glenn Youngkin. He has been with OERI and the Virginia Modeling, Analysis & Simulation Center for more than 15 years, starting as a research associate professor. He quickly built a successful research program in the areas of behavior modeling, autonomous agent behaviors in agent-based simulation and immersive virtual environments with sponsors including the National Institute of Aerospace, NASA, U.S. Navy and U.S. Joint Forces Command.

Headshot of Cetre Pegues

Cetre Pegues, a senior media specialist in University Communications, won the 2024 Filmmaker of the Year Award at The Black Men Rock Image Awards presented by the Black Excellence Group in December. He was honored for his short film,” “Superheroes,” which demonstrates how heroes come in all shapes and sizes from the perspectives of an athlete and a young boy. The film has been an official selection in more than 40 film festivals worldwide, taking top prize in the Virginia Black Film Festival, Mexico Film and Creativity Festival, Bollywood International Film Awards, Charlotte Black Film Festival and France International Film Festival, among others.

Chunsheng Xin

Chunsheng Xin, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering for his significant contributions to the field of cybersecurity. He was recognized for his “contributions to secure resource sharing and core network control for resilient computing.” He joined Old Dominion University in 2013 and is the founder and director of ODU’s Cybersecurity, Communications & Networking Innovation Lab. His research expertise includes cybersecurity, AI, next generation wireless networks, mobile computing, resilient computing and the internet of things.

headshot of Wei Yusuf

Wie Yusuf, Ph.D., a professor in the School of Public Service and director of the Career Pathways Program, won the 2025 Truitt-Felbinger Award from the American Society for Public Administration’s Section on Transportation Policy and Administration in recognition of her significant contributions to the field of transportation policy and administration. As a policy scholar, she focuses on issues at the intersection of governments, non-profit/non-governmental organizations, businesses and civil society. Her policy areas are climate change and environmental policy, coastal resilience, emergency and disaster management, transportation policy and fiscal policy.  Her research in transportation policy and administration focuses on public-private partnerships for highway projects and residents’ and drivers’ willingness to pay tolls, gas taxes and other highway funding options.