Swihart recognized for excellence in mentoring

By Peter Murhpy

“I hope that I have modeled empathy and supportive guidance of students, and that they, in turn, have adopted a similar approach as they mentor and supervise others after leaving UB,” Swihart said.

The EGSMA honors a member of the UB Graduate Faculty who has demonstrated excellence “by advising and mentoring that encourages the best possible performance from students; assisting students through to successful degree completion and subsequent career placement; supporting students in publishing their research and scholarships; and exemplary efforts and success with student placements,” according to the Graduate School.

Swihart has cherished his role as mentor to students, even as it has changed over the course of his career. During his early years as a faculty member, Swihart could spend hours at a time solving a problem or working on an experiment with a student — as is the case for most university faculty. As his time became more structured and his responsibilities grew, however, Swihart had to pivot. He still maintains an open-door policy, but meetings with PhD students often end after an hour so the next student’s meeting can start. He strives to maintain this connection to students because of the weight of an advisor’s responsibility. 

“After the initial coursework, many PhD students spend three to five years working on a research project where their advisor is the primary guidance source,” Swihart said. “The PhD advisor-student relationship is also one of tremendous power imbalance, where the advisor ‘holds all the cards.’ This makes having an empathetic and supportive advisor one of the most, if not the most, important aspect of the PhD experience.”

According to Swihart, his mentoring has had the biggest impact on students who were at risk of not completing their graduate degrees. He has brought in students who may have struggled in other research groups and helped them succeed at UB and in their own professional and academic careers.

Jeff Errington, professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, who nominated Swihart for the award, recognizes his commitments to students, as well.

“Mark’s approach to student mentoring is guided by his underlying philosophy that our primary product as faculty is not our publications, but our graduates,” Errington says.

Swihart’s impact is evident among the careers of his former students, and helps shape their own interactions with their students, according to Ken-Tye Yong, Swihart’s former PhD student and current professor and associate dean of faculty of engineering at the University of Sydney, Australia School of Biomedical Engineering.

“The way I mentor my own students today is directly shaped by what I learned from Mark Swihart,” Yong said. “His commitment to standing by students, especially when things are difficult, creates a mentoring legacy that extends far beyond UB.”

Swihart has advised over 95 graduate students and published over 300 manuscripts, which have been cited over 24,000 times. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His works spans across engineering disciplines, including collaborations with faculty members in UB’s Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Electrical Engineering, and Medicine, and at several other universities throughout the world. Swihart joined UB in 1998, and has led multiple campus-wide initiatives, including the UB 2020 Strategic Strength in Integrated Nanostructured Systems and the New York State Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics.