Texas Christian University’s Anton Naumov has plenty of reasons to be in his lab. 

With the National Institute of Health funding his work to develop more cost-effective diagnostic imaging for cancer and other diseases, and the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs funding his research with the Cleveland Clinic to create better sunscreens for America’s service members, he’s busy. 

And yet, Naumov can still be found in the classroom. 

“Research helps me get students excited about what they’re learning,” said the associate professor of physics and astronomy. “I can say, ‘We’re producing new sunscreens. Guess how we’re doing this?’ and connect that research back to the concepts we’re studying. You can see their interest change, and that’s super rewarding.”

Accelerating Momentum
Less than a year after Louise Dilworth Davis ’77 made a transformational $40 million investment in the College of Science & Engineering and gave the college its new name, the impact is beginning to take shape — not only in dollars spent, but in the capacity to support faculty, students and research at an entirely different scale.

Simply put, the Davis gift accelerated the research momentum already building in the college. 

“Stronger research creates better opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students in the classroom and research labs. Those students help faculty ask bigger questions and compete for external funding. That, in turn, creates even more opportunities. It’s a feedback mechanism that only grows,” said Kayla Green, chemistry professor and associate dean for research in Davis College.

“The extraordinary part is that this isn’t a one-time investment. The endowment creates a lasting resource for the college, so her generosity will affect students and faculty who haven’t even arrived at TCU yet. That is a legacy.”

The momentum is showing up in increasingly competitive research awards coming to TCU. Rhiannon Mayne, the Oscar and Juanita Monnig Endowed Chair of Meteoritics and Planetary Science, was recently awarded a $3.6 million research grant from NASA centered on the 2029 close approach of asteroid Apophis.

“Apophis gives us a chance to connect what is happening in the sky above us with the rocks beneath our feet,” Mayne said. “When you bring together astronomy, geology, meteorites and planetary science, you can start to see how the same processes happening in space today have shaped planetary surfaces over billions of years.”

Those awards build on an already strong foundation of research and academic excellence across the college.

“These recent research awards demonstrate the extraordinary momentum across the Louise Dilworth Davis College of Science & Engineering. The impact extends far beyond the grants themselves, creating high-impact opportunities for Davis College students, advancing TCU’s research enterprise and supporting discoveries that ultimately improve lives,” said Dwayne McCay, Louise Dilworth Davis Dean. Davis’ gift endowed the deanship, as well as the college.. “Much of this was made possible by the transformational gift of our college’s namesake, allowing additional investments such as doctoral stipends, postdoctoral fellows, faculty support and equipment. Her vision of a great TCU College of Science & Engineering is taking shape, and this investment gives us an opportunity to build on that momentum at an entirely different pace.”

Nor is Davis College an outlier. 

Building a Research Enterprise
Look across TCU and you will find colleges building research strengths that look distinctly their own: from human performance and health sciences in the Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences to advanced textiles and wearable technology in the College of Fine Arts; from the new Roach Institute for Athlete Engineering to the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence work underway in the Neeley School of Business. Together, they are creating a research enterprise built around TCU’s existing strengths, connected across traditional academic boundaries and with students at the center.

“What is happening in Davis College is exactly what we mean when we talk about growing TCU’s research enterprise in a way that makes us more distinctly TCU,” said Reuben Burch, TCU vice provost for research. “There is extraordinary talent already here — researchers competing at the highest levels who are also deeply invested in teaching and mentoring students. Our opportunity now is to build on those strengths across the university, connect them across disciplines and give our faculty and students the resources to compete at the highest level.”

When Naumov talks about teaching, he turns to physics. Specifically, quantum tunneling: the phenomenon in which a particle can pass through a barrier it seemingly shouldn't be able to cross.

Naumov knows he can’t predict which student he’ll inspire to become a researcher or which classroom interaction might change a trajectory. But teach enough students, expose them to research, make science exciting and create enough opportunities, he said, and eventually somebody gets through the barrier.

“Dr. Naumov draws on his research experience to connect biology, chemistry and physics, making classroom concepts easily accessible through experiments,” said Ugur Topkiran, a doctoral researcher in The Naumov Lab at TCU. “As his student, I’ve had the opportunity to explore those ideas in his laboratory and experience the process of discovery firsthand. That connection between teaching and research has been extremely valuable to my education and growth as a scientist.”

What is happening in Davis College is creating more opportunities.

More students in labs. More faculty with resources. More experiments. More collaborations.

More chances for something transformative to happen.

- Jen Floyd Engel