The Martin Fox Professorship in the College of Letters and Science was created at the generous bequest and gift of Martin Fox, a Montana native and 1988 MSU alumnus, who has established the professorship because of the impactful connections he had as a student with several CLS faculty members who helped shape his career and life.

About

The Martin Fox Professorship shall be awarded to an outstanding faculty member in the College of Letters and Science who "demonstrates leadership, professionalism and impact on the success of the University." The Professorship recognizes and honors accomplished faculty by providing supplemental support of $38,000 a year for research and creative activities, including but not limited to, research supplies, materials, and equipment, travel and registration costs for conferences or research meetings, hosting outside speakers and scholars, and compensation for student research assistants. Funds may not be used for salary compensation to the Fox Professor.

The Professorship shall be awarded for a term of two (2) years non-renewable and is open to tenure-line faculty with a record of outstanding accomplishment in research or creative works and the promise of sustained excellence and achievement in research, scholarship, and creative activities. The award is intended to be transformative in its impact and propel CLS faculty who exhibit great promise to the highest levels of achievement.

Application and Nomination Process

Applications must include the following:

  • A current CV
  • A two-page statement of the proposed research project
  • A one-page career narrative describing the candidate's accomplishments, vision, and highest aspirations for their research and creative work

A call for nominations and applications is typically announced in early Fall. A committee will review nominations and make recommendations to the dean of the college for consideration. 

Recipients

Portrait of Valerie Copie

Dr. Valérie Copié, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
2026 - 2027 Fox Professor

Dr. Valerie Copié has been a faculty member at MSU since 1997. She teaches in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and through the WWAMI regional medical program. Her research interests are diverse and highly interdisciplinary; she mentors graduate and undergraduate students from different backgrounds and disciplines, and her collaborations with MSU faculty include colleagues in biochemistry, immunology, neuroscience, and microbiology. She is also the founder and director of MSU's Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility, which provides essential equipment and services to campus researchers and outside users who study molecules and chemical and biochemical reactions.

The award will enable Dr. Copié's team to move in a new research direction involving neurometabolism, which is the interrelationship between cellular metabolism and nerve cell health. This highly interdisciplinary project uses stem cell technologies to analyze how sympathetic neurons function at the molecular level. Malfunction of these cells has devastating consequences for patients, and the research aims to better understand how changes in metabolism accelerate the demise of these neurons in a rare but incurable disease related to Alzheimer's. The project will investigate the cellular mechanisms at the source of the important communication between neuronal cell metabolism and physiological function, a functional axis that is compromised in many neurodegenerative diseases affecting human health, but one that remains poorly understood.