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Celebrating faculty and staff excellence
President Satish K. Tripathi delivers remarks at the Celebration of Faculty and Staff Excellence. Photo: NANCY J. PARISI
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“This past year has been a banner one for awards and recognition earned by UB faculty.”
With more than 200 proud friends, family members and colleagues in attendance, 19 of UB’s top faculty members, librarians and staff were honored last week during the seventh annual Celebration of Faculty and Staff Academic Excellence.
The ceremony, held April 21 in the Screening Room in the Center for the Arts, North Campus, recognized faculty and staff members for outstanding achievement in scholarship, research and creative activity. A separate ceremony honoring outstanding students was held April 6.
“This past year has been a banner one for awards and recognition earned by UB faculty,” said Lucinda M. Finley, vice provost for faculty affairs, who emceed the event.
Among those achievements were six Fulbright awards, “making UB amongst the top five universities in the U.S. for number of Fulbright scholars,” Finley said.
UB President Satish K. Tripathi lauded the honorees for their achievements, which he said are indicative of the university’s core mission.
“Over the years, this has become one of my favorite highlights of the academic year,” said Tripathi, who served as UB provost and executive vice president for academic affairs before being appointed as the university’s 15th president earlier in the week. “For me, this ceremony is a wonderful reminder of what UB is all about and why I’m so proud to be part of this university. It is a celebration of everything we aspire to as an academic community.
“Through your discoveries, your ideas and your intellectual and creative contributions, you remind us of one of our most cherished beliefs as a public research university: the belief that knowledge can change the world,” he added.
Four faculty members were honored for recently joining the ranks of SUNY Distinguished Professor, the highest faculty rank in the SUNY system. Each received a plaque and a medal. They are:
- Leonard H. Epstein, SUNY Distinguished Professor and UB Distinguished Professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
- Venugopal Govindaraju, SUNY Distinguished Professor and UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
- Mark H. Karwan, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
- H. Raghavendra Rao, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, School of Management.
Thomas Szyperski, professor in the Department of Chemistry, was honored as a UB Distinguished Professor. The UB Distinguished Professor designation—not to be confused with the SUNY Distinguished Professor designation—was created by the Office of the Provost to recognize full professors who have achieved true distinction and who are leaders in their fields.
Five faculty members received a medal and a certificate acknowledging their receipt of SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching. They are Alfredo Aguirre, professor, Department of Oral Diagnostic Services, School of Dental Medicine; Nancy Campbell-Heider, associate professor, School of Nursing; David L. Fertig, associate professor, Department of Linguistics, College of Arts and Sciences; Andrew M. Stott, associate professor, Department of English, CAS; and Jiyuan Yu, professor, Department of Philosophy, CAS.
Two faculty members received SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Professional Service: Mary Anne Rokitka, associate dean for biomedical undergraduate education, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; and Steven L. Shaw, assistant vice provost and director of international admissions.
SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities went to John M. Canty Jr., Albert and Elizabeth Rekate Chair in Cardiovascular Disease, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Timothy J. Dean, professor, Department of English, and director of the Humanities Institute, CAS.
Introducing the winners of the SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Librarianship, Finley noted that UB is “blessed with many of the best librarians of any university, who truly make our faculty scholarship and student learning possible.”
Award winners are Nancy M. Babb, associate librarian, Charles Sears Law Library, and John M. Bewley, associate librarian/archivist, Music Library.
“We also have an excellent and dedicated staff who work tirelessly to support and enhance the university’s academic mission,” Finley said before introducing the three winners of the SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Classified Service. They are Elizabeth G. Felmet, graduate administrator, Department of Philosophy; Rose Marie LoGrasso, who retired as a supervising janitor in Residence Halls and Apartments shortly after receiving the Chancellor’s Award; and Diane M. Szalda, head account clerk, Student Academic Records and Financial Services.
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