Five from SEAS honored with UB's exceptional scholar and teaching innovation awards

The Exceptional Scholars Award honors faculty members for their outstanding research performance at different stages of their careers. There are two awards: Sustained Achievement Awards for senior scholars and Young Investigator Awards for untenured scholars who received their terminal degree within the past eight years. Both awards recognize work that has “garnered public and/or professional accolades beyond the norm.”

Kui Ren, professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, received the Sustained Achievement award. Recipients are selected based on their body of work over a number of years. The award is not meant to serve as a lifetime achievement honor, but rather as recognition for outstanding performance in a recent segment of a scholar’s career.

Qiaoqiang Gan, assistant professor, Department of Electrical Engineering; Jonathan Lovell, assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering; and Manoranjan Majji, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, received Young Investigator awards. The award is presented to untenured researchers whose work has garnered universal acclaim or been completed under the auspices of a prestigious fellowship grant.

Steven Ko, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, received UB's Teaching Innovation Award. The award recognizes faculty members who have used new methods and approaches teaching that have had a demonstrable effect on enhancing student-learning outcomes, including innovative uses of educational technology. All UB faculty members are eligible for the award.

The five are among 15 recipients of the awards. All will be honored at the annual Celebration of Faculty/Staff Excellence, to be held on Oct. 20.