Choudhury, Gyawali named Wayne and Kathy Richards Faculty Fellows

Assistant professors Avishek Choudhury and Prashnna Gyawali win the Wayne and Kathy Richards Faculty Fellowship. (WVU Photo supplied)

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University has named two J. Wayne and Kathy Richards Faculty Fellows.

Story by Crystal Hanes, Storyteller
Photos by Supplied

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Avishek Choudhury from the Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering and Prashnna Gyawali from the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering have been appointed to the positions, providing them funding to support and grow their ongoing research programs.

A $1 million gift made in 2014 by WVU alumnus J. Wayne Richards and his wife, Kathy, allows the fellowship to exist as WVU provides flexible funding to the College to continue to hire, retain, reward and recognize faculty members who haven’t achieved tenure.

“Being named a Wayne and Kathy Richards Faculty Fellow is a tremendous honor. The fellowship will allow me to expand our lab's capabilities and provide research opportunities for our graduate and undergraduate students,” Choudhury said. “This fellowship will provide the essential resources needed to accelerate our human-AI interaction research, helping us design technologies that reduce physician burnout and improve patient safety on the medical frontlines.” 

Choudhury received his master’s in industrial and systems engineering in 2017 from Texas Tech University and his Ph.D. in systems engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2022. 

As the most recent recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, his research has earned top accolades, including the 2024 Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare Best Article Award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, alongside the Paul Kaplan Award and the Fabrycky-Blanchard Award and the Excellence Doctoral Fellowship for exemplary academic performance, excellence in research and promise in the study and practice of systems engineering.

His research interests include patient safety, artificial intelligence, cognitive human factors, neuroergonomics and clinical decision making. At WVU Choudhury and his research team are actively building frameworks to make clinical AI safer, accountable, and seamless to use in healthcare. His methodologies bridge the gap between engineering and medicine, ensuring that next-generation health technologies support, rather than burden, frontline medical personnel.

“I am grateful to receive this fellowship. This recognition is both encouraging and motivating—it reinforces the importance of the research we are pursuing and I am extremely grateful,” Gyawali stated. “The fellowship will help advance my work in reliable and trustworthy AI, particularly in healthcare and scientific discovery.”

After receiving his bachelor’s in electronics and communication, Institute of Engineering (Pulchowk Campus), from Tribhuwan University in 2014 and his Ph.D. in computing and information sciences at Rochester University in 2021, he subsequently completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University.

Gyawali’s research focuses on reliable, explainable, and multimodal AI, with interests in representation learning, uncertainty, generative modeling, and AI for scientific discovery. At WVU, he has expanded this work into healthcare applications, including AI for retinal imaging, as well as AI for materials science, including the discovery and generation of novel materials.

"Avishek and Prashnna are exceptional and talented young faculty members at our college who are already making a significant impact and truly deserve this prestigious honor. I am proud of what they have achieved and am looking forward to seeing their future contributions," said Pedro Mago, Glen H. Hiner Dean of the Statler College. "The Wayne and Kathy Richards Faculty Fellows program is outstanding, and I am extremely grateful to Wayne and Kathy for their loyal and ongoing support of our college and faculty."

The South Charleston, West Virginia natives, the Richards have a deep history of supporting the Statler College and WVU athletics. The couple contributed to the Statler College Building Fund to aid in the construction of the Advanced Engineering Research Building. The pair later pledged $1.25 million to the Mountaineer Athletic Club to enhance the football complex. 

Richards has dedicated many years of service to the College and University on the Statler College Advisory Committee and WVU Foundation Board of Directors. Earning his bachelor’s degree from WVU in 1981 for mining engineering, he spent 25 years in a variety of senior operational, marketing and sales positions with Schlumberger. Currently, he serves as the president and CEO of GR Energy Services in Sugar Land, Texas. Kathy earned her degree at WVU Tech in Montgomery in dental hygiene.

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