Dr. Eduardo Colmenares-Diaz, associate professor of computer science, was named Hardin Professor for 2025 during Midwestern State University’s commencement ceremony May 17. The Hardin Professor is the highest honor bestowed upon a faculty member at the university each year.

With a resume representing a career spent pursuing excellence in research, Colmenares exemplifies this with 28 publications achieved in his 10 years at MSU Texas. Many of these publications were co-authored with undergraduate and graduate research students. These same students have gone on to prestigious careers of their own at NASA, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Lockheed Martin. The success of his students demonstrates profound ripple effects of a career spent on student mentorship.

Colmenares joined the MSU faculty in 2015. He holds the Ph.D. and Master of Science in Computer Science from Texas Tech University. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering from the Universe Industrial de Santander in Colombia.

Colmenares’ student-involved research interests include high-performance computing, GPU and hybrid parallel programming, deep learning, and data science. His research helped expand computing infrastructure at MSU Texas, where he serves as both director of the NVIDIA GPU Educational Center and founder of the High-Performance Computing and Deep Learning Lab.

During his tenure at the university, Colmenares has been awarded numerous internal and external grants to support his student-involved research and high-performance computing infrastructure. As a teacher, students describe Colmenares as someone who helps make coding easier. He has applied this skill not just to the benefit of students at MSU Texas, but also for STEM-interested elementary, middle and high school students in our community. His facility with languages goes beyond the language of computers and includes extensive work with the Language Proficiency Assessment Committee for K-12 English Language Learners in Wichita Falls Independent School District.

The Hardin Foundation for Wichita County established the annual award in 1962 for a member of the MSU faculty whose teaching and research during the preceding 12 months has brought distinction to the faculty member and the institution. The award carries with it a stipend of $5,000. Colmenares is the 65th professor to receive the honor.