In This Story
Xuesu Xiao, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, was named a “Rising Star” as part of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) 2026 Outstanding Faculty Awards, a distinction reserved for faculty in the early years of their careers. Xiao won in his first year of eligibility.
Only two Rising Star designations are given in Virginia, making the recognition particularly selective. Along with the honor came a personal award of $7,500. “This recognition is especially meaningful because it reflects Virginia’s commitment to scholarship that serves the public good,” Xiao said.
The award process itself is rigorous; candidates are first selected through an internal university process, then asked to assemble a detailed nomination package for the state. Assembling it all required significant time and coordination. “It’s actually a lot of work to prepare all these documents,” Xiao said. Over the summer, he worked with mentors who had previously received the award. “They coached me along and I’m really thankful.”
Among other achievements, Xiao is known for this work on the robotics research space he built in 2022, called the RobotiXX lab, focusing on intelligent mobile robots for real-world deployment. It employs two postdoctoral researchers, a research engineer, and 26 graduate students. Dozens of undergraduate and high-school students also work in the lab. Xiao says it’s “an only-of-its-kind thing on the planet,” a space he and students literally built with their bare hands, lugging seven tons of rocks in the back of his pickup truck.
Though perhaps it was no surprise, given Xiao’s already impressive resume, the honor caught him unawares, in a way. “I was in Asia, when the call came,” he said, missing it while sleeping due to the time difference. Even though it was a Saturday when he called back, a staffer answered and delivered the good news.
The formal celebration took place in Richmond in March, where Xiao attended the ceremony with his wife. “It’s a very nice event,” he said, describing a luncheon held at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. The occasion offered a rare pause from the pace of academic life. “It’s also fun to dress up a little bit, with the tie and everything.” Though he laments that he did not wear his signature cowboy boots, a fashion picked up during graduate school at Texas A&M.
“I’m grateful to my students, collaborators, mentors, and the communities that make this work meaningful,” he said, “and excited for what’s next.”