Each year, LSU’s Office of Research & Economic Development honors the exceptional research and scholarship of two LSU faculty as Distinguished Research Masters. 

Darius Spieth, the San Diego Alumni Professor of Art History in the LSU School of Art, is being recognized for his scholarship in the arts, humanities, social, and behavioral sciences. Edward Laws, professor in the LSU Department of Environmental Sciences, is honored for his contributions to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Distinguished Research Masters will discuss their work as part of a public presentation on Tuesday, April 15 at 5:30 p.m. in the Holliday Forum in the LSU Journalism Building, followed by a reception and celebration of their individual contributions to the university and the world.

“Our annual recognition of two of our most talented faculty in the creative arts and natural sciences highlights the contributions of LSU research to Louisiana and the nation,” said Robert Twilley, vice president of research and economic development at LSU. “It is a proud honor to pay tribute to the contributions of Darius Spieth in the College of Art and Design and Ed Laws in the College of the Coast and Environment to the scholarship achievements at LSU. They each represent the level of talent and scholarship that enable LSU to be recognized among the top research universities in the nation.”

Darius Spieth, Distinguished Research Master—Arts, Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences 

Art History, College of Art & Design 

Professor Darius Spieth’s scholarship bridges art history and economics. Internationally recognized as a leading expert on the dynamics of art markets, Spieth investigates the role played by both high art and low art in society, how tastes are formed, how much art costs, and who decides what’s valuable. 

His first book, Napoleon’s Sorcerers: The Sophisians (University of Delaware Press, 2007), followed an influential group of artists who went on Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition. Their “orientalism” caused Egyptomania and a revived Isis cult in France, but ironically, the hieroglyphic language had not yet been deciphered, so cult members projected their own anachronistic beliefs onto the Egyptian symbols. Spieth’s second book, Revolutionary Paris and the Market for Netherlandish Art (Brill, 2018), delved into old auction catalogs to see what the French bought in the revolutionary era—and why Netherlandish, rather than Italian, art became so popular at the time. His third monograph, The Canon and the Market: How the Symbiosis of Art, Rankings, and Money Evolved Over Time (Droz, in press), looks at why some pay millions for “canonical” pieces, often as investments, while most of us treasure flea market finds. 

Spieth is a beloved professor at LSU who speaks six languages: English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, and Japanese. The LSU student paper, the Reveille, named him “LSU’s favorite professor” in 2020, 2021, and 2022. His courses range from the art of the French Revolution to the works of Pablo Picasso. He was recently selected for the prestigious Sternberg Professorship in the Honors College and continues to serve on the board for the LSU Museum of Art.  

“Dr. Spieth’s scholarship is prodigious and wide-ranging and helps us understand the times we live in as well as the long-term trajectories of culture,” said Rod Parker, professor and director of the School of Art and interim dean of the LSU College of Art & Design. “His capacity to bridge economics and art history, tracing the dialectic between the creation of art and the market for art over the long sweep of history makes him nearly unique, and his contributions to both fields have been significant and influential.” 

Spieth earned his PhD in Art History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2001 and, in parallel, an MBA in international finance from the International University of Japan in 2000. 

Edward Laws, Distinguished Research Master—Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics 

Environmental Science, College of the Coast & Environment 

Professor Edward Laws is a world-renowned phytoplankton ecologist. He is responsible for raising national and international awareness of the coastal problem of water pollution and its connections with human health. His research continues to answer critical questions about climate change impacts in the ocean, such as how changing ocean environments influence phytoplankton metabolism and carbon sequestration in the sea. Laws has authored seminal publications on the sequestration of carbon by phytoplankton as well as two textbooks—Aquatic Pollution (Wiley, four editions since 1981) and Mathematical Methods for Oceanographers (Wiley, 1997)—both classics in the field. His 250 peer-reviewed journal publications span prestigious journals such as Nature, Nature Communications, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Before joining LSU as dean of the College of the Coast & Environment in 2005, a role in which he served until 2008, Laws was an oceanography professor at the University of Hawaii for 31 years, where he was three times elected chairman of the oceanography department. After his move to Louisiana, Laws kept a quiet hobby for many years—he volunteered, often weekly, as a GED tutor for prison inmates at Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. His service to society and the academic community earned him the LSU Distinguished Faculty Award in 2021 and the LSU Alumni Professorship in 2022.  

Last year, Laws became an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest scientific society. Laws’ strong academic relationships with scholars and students in China also earned him the Friendship Award, the top award for non-Chinese nationals and equivalent to the U.S. National Medal of Honor or Medal of Science, given by the Chinese government. 

“Dr. Laws is a distinguished scientist and mentor whose groundbreaking research on phytoplankton physiology and coastal pollution, combined with his significant contributions to education and support for junior faculty, has profoundly elevated LSU,” said Clint Willson, Callais and Woods Professor, dean of the LSU College of the Coast & Environment, and director of the LSU Center for River Studies. “His work has improved our understanding of how changes to the base of the food web in the coastal ocean, with the changing climate, help predict how resilient our state’s fisheries will be in the future.” 

Laws earned his PhD in Chemical Physics at Harvard University in 1972. His doctoral research on boron chemistry helped his major professor, William Lipscomb, earn the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1976. 

Learn more about and attend the April 15 celebration: https://calendar.lsu.edu/event/distinguished-research-master-award-presentations