Three Franklin professors named as UGA Faculty Innovation Fellows

The University of Georgia Innovation Fellows Program, a university-wide initiative to provide the UGA community with improved, peer-delivered access to information, training, and assistance related to innovation and entrepreneurship, announced its first cohort of Faculty Innovation Fellows. The program recruited faculty members from select colleges to act as peer-liaisons and ambassadors between researchers and innovation programs across campus. Innovation Fellows apply and are selected by their representative college dean and the leadership of the Innovation District.  

Seven UGA faculty members were selected for 2025-26 cohort, three from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences: Brian Bauer, psychology; Chad Howe, linguistics and Romance Languages; and Adam Milewski, geology.

“The Fellows were chosen based on their record of innovative thinking and their potential for entrepreneurial success ,” said Paula Lemons, professor and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Innovation in the Franklin College.  “This first group of fellows will help refine the initiative further, based on their ability to begin a discovery project and learn from their peers about what they think of the Innovation District in terms of how the program can be improved.”

The Innovation Fellows will engage in a pilot project and build a strategic plan for how their group, departments or college will engage with the Innovation District. The process will begin fall 2025 with a service-based, 6-week Innovation Gateway bootcamp.

“In my department alone, I know how many creative faculty members we have, and that their creativity doesn’t stop at research, but likely extends to entrepreneurial endeavors as well,” said Brian Bauer, assistant professor in the department of psychology. “New tools provided by modern AI allow us to create more with fewer barriers. In my area of suicide prevention, there is a huge need for cost-effective, scalable solutions that can be tailored to different populations with specific needs, quickly. Working with the Innovation District to bring our ideas into a product and potential company has been a great learning experience and very fulfilling.” 

“I am excited to join Chris Rhodes and his team at the UGA Innovation District in learning about how Franklin College might be more closely involved with opportunities for expanding faculty and student ideas into the private sector,” said Chad Howe, professor in the department of linguistics and LACSI interim director. “This is a new venture for me, and I look forward to contributing in whatever way I can to increasing Franklin’s representation in the commercial space.”

“I’ve always been passionate about maximizing the impact of my research and can’t wait to serve as a Faculty Innovation Fellow and help others within Franklin College and UGA achieve success,” said Adam Milewski, professor and head of the department of geology. “My goal for the program is to encourage and help support a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, and to improve the commercial success of research to maximize impact.”

Image: From left: Brain Bauer, Chad Howe, and Adam Milewski.