UB Honors and Awards

In a world that is often splintered by disinformation, you promote reason, collaboration and evidence-based knowledge. By bringing your ideas, discoveries and innovation to bear on your profession and your discipline, you are furthering the narrative of contemporary issues and creating solutions to pressing problems. In doing so, you are making a profound difference here at UB and beyond."

-UB President Satish Tripathi, 2020 Celebration of Faculty and Staff Academic Excellence

Each year, UB recognizes the academic excellence of highly accomplished faculty members.

UB Distinguished Professor

The Office of the Provost created the rank of UB Distinguished Professor to honor full professors who have achieved national or international recognition as experts in their fields of study. UB Distinguished Professors are members of the faculty who have been full professors for a minimum of five years with a demonstrated record of excellence in artistic or scholarly contributions.

Sriram Neelamegham.
Sriram Neelamegham

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2022

Hui Meng

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2018

Mark T. Swihart.
Mark T. Swihart

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2014

Venu Govindaraju.
Venu Govindaraju

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2009

David Kofke.
David Kofke

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2004

Paschalis Alexandridis.
Paschalis Alexandridis

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2002

Russ Miller.
Russ Miller

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2002

UB President’s Medal

The UB President’s Medal, first presented in 1990, recognizes outstanding scholarly or artistic achievements, humanitarian acts, contributions of time or treasure, exemplary leadership or any other major contribution to the development of the University at Buffalo and the quality of life in the UB community.

Deborah Chung.
Deborah Chung

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2024

Venu Govindaraju.
Venu Govindaraju

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2024

UB Exceptional Scholar - Sustained Achievement Award

The Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement was created by the University at Buffalo in 2002 to honor outstanding professional achievement that has been focused on a particular body of work over a number of years. This award was created to recognize an unprecedented accomplishment in a senior scholar's career, distinguishing a body of work of enduring importance that has gone beyond the norm in a particular field of study.

Mostafa Nouh.
Mostafa Nouh

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award Year: 2024

Uttam Singisetti.
Uttam Singisetti

Department of Electrical Engineering
Award Year: 2024

Jun Xia.
Jun Xia

Department of Biomedical Engineering
Award Year: 2024

Lora Cavuoto.
Lora Cavuoto

Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award Year: 2023

Jonathan Lovell.
Jonathan Lovell

Department of Biomedical Engineering
Award Year: 2023

Yun Wu.
Yun Wu

Department of Biomedical Engineering
Award Year: 2023

Atri Rudra

Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2022

Shenqiang Ren.
Shenqiang Ren

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2022

Chi Zhou.
Chi Zhou

Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2022

Haiqing Lin.
Haiqing Lin

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2021

Mettupalayam Sivaselvan.
Mettupalayam Sivaselvan

Department: Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
Award year: 2021

Wenyao Xu.
Wenyao Xu

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2021

Tevfik Kosar.
Tevfik Kosar

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2020

Tarunraj Singh.
Tarunraj Singh

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2020

Gang Wu.
Gang Wu

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2020

Paul DesJardin

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2019

Jun Zhuang.
Jun Zhuang

Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2019

Kemper Lewis

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2017

Blaine Pfeifer.
Blaine Pfeifer

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2017

Susan Zonglu Hua.
Susan Zonglu Hua

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2015

Jinhui Xu.
Jinhui Xu

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2015

Jeffrey Errington.
Jeffrey Errington

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2014

Shambhu Upadhyaya.
Shambhu Upadhyaya

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2013

Chang Wen Chen.
Chang Wen Chen

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2012

Hui Meng

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2011

Sriram Neelamegham.
Sriram Neelamegham

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2011

Li Lin.
Li Lin

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2010

Mark T. Swihart.
Mark T. Swihart

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2010

Stelios Andreadis

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2009

Jonathan Bird.
Jonathan Bird

Department: Electrical Engineering
Award year: 2008

Michel Bruneau.
Michel Bruneau

Department: Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
Award year: 2007

Vladimir Mitin.
Vladimir Mitin

Department: Electrical Engineering
Award year: 2005

Chunming Qiao

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2005

Venu Govindaraju.
Venu Govindaraju

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2003

Paschalis Alexandridis.
Paschalis Alexandridis

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2002

Rajan Batta.
Rajan Batta

Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2002

David Kofke.
David Kofke

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2002

UB Exceptional Scholar - Young Investigator Award

Introduced in 2002, the University at Buffalo’s Exceptional Scholar Award for Young Investigators celebrates a recent superior achievement of a scholar in his/her field of study. Such an achievement will have distinguished the recipient as an up-and-coming scholar, as well as earned the individual acclaim for his/her work, which could be a published work or other scholastic or artistic endeavor.

Shaofeng Zou

Department of Electrical Engineering
Award Year: 2024

A. Erdem Sariyuce.
A. Erdem Sariyuce

Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Award Year: 2023

Hongyue Sun.
Hongyue Sun

Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award Year: 2023

Minghui Zheng.
Minghui Zheng

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award Year: 2023

Eleni Kyriakidou.
Eleni Kyriakidou

Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2022

Xiu Yao

Department of Electrical Engineering
Award year: 2022

Negar Elhami-Khorasani.
Negar Elhami-Khorasani

Department: Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
Award year: 2021

Kenneth Joseph.
Kenneth Joseph

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2021

Huamin Li.
Huamin Li

Department: Electrical Engineering
Award year: 2021

Changyou Chen.
Changyou Chen

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2020

Ning Dai.
Ning Dai

Department: Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
Award year: 2020

Mostafa Nouh.
Mostafa Nouh

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2020

James Chen

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2019

Shi Li.
Shi Li

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2019

Oliver Kennedy.
Oliver Kennedy

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2018

Lukasz Ziarek.
Lukasz Ziarek

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2018

Lu Su*

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2017

Zhi Sun.
Zhi Sun*

Department: Electrical Engineering
Award year: 2017

Chi Zhou.
Chi Zhou

Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2017

Qiaoqiang Gan.
Qiaoqiang Gan

Department: Electrical Engineering
Award year: 2016

Jonathan Lovell.
Jonathan Lovell

Department: Biomedical Engineering
Award year: 2016

Steven Y. Ko.
Steven Y. Ko*

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2014

Jun Zhuang.
Jun Zhuang

Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2013

Atri Rudra

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2011

Murat Demirbas.
Murat Demirbas

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2010

Igor Jankovic.
Igor Jankovic

Department: Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
Award year: 2006

Albert Titus.
Albert Titus

Department: Biomedical Engineering
Award year: 2006

Jeffrey Errington.
Jeffrey Errington

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2005

Stelios Andreadis

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2003

Ann Bisantz.
Ann Bisantz

Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2002

John Crassidis.
John Crassidis

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2002

Sriram Neelamegham.
Sriram Neelamegham

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2002

UB Teaching Innovation Award

Established to honor exceptional educational pedagogy, UB’s Award for Teaching Innovation was created in 2003 to recognize faculty who have contributed significantly to engaging students with new methods and approaches to teaching. The award recognizes faculty members whose innovative teaching methods have a demonstrable effect on enhancing student learning-outcomes.

Ziming Zhao.
Ziming Zhao

Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Award Year: 2024

Jesse Hartloff.
Jesse Hartloff

Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Award Year: 2023

Alice Nightingale.
Alice Nightingale

Department of Engineering Education
Award Year: 2023

Filip Stefanovic.
Filip Stefanovic

Department of Biomedical Engineering
Award Year: 2023

Atri Rudra

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2021

Varun Chandola.
Varun Chandola

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2020

Aaron Estes.
Aaron Estes

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2020

Jun Zhuang.
Jun Zhuang

Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2020

Jason Armstrong.
Jason Armstrong

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2019

Dimitrios Koutsonikolas.
Dimitrios Koutsonikolas*

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2018

Alexander Nikolaev.
Alexander Nikolaev

Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2017

Lukasz Ziarek.
Lukasz Ziarek

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2017

Steven Y. Ko.
Steven Y. Ko*

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2016

Albert Titus.
Albert Titus

Department: Biomedical Engineering
Award year: 2010

UB Distinguished Postdoc Mentor Award

The UB Distinguished Postdoc Mentoring Award was established in 2009 to recognize UB faculty members who excel in the mentoring of postdoctoral scholars, and to highlight the importance of effective and intentional mentoring of postdocs.

Francine Battaglia.
Francine Battaglia

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award Year: 2023

David Kofke.
David Kofke

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2019

Wenyao Xu.
Wenyao Xu

Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Award Year: 2017

UB Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award

The Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award, established by UB's Graduate School in 2011, annually honors and publicly recognizes exceptional excellence in faculty mentoring of graduate students at UB. Award recipients are faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding and sustained support and development of graduate students from course completion through research and subsequent career placement. Nominees for the award must be current members of the UB Graduate Faculty and have held faculty appointment at UB for at least five years.

Shambhu Upadhyaya.
Shambhu Upadhyaya

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2021

Jun Zhuang.
Jun Zhuang

Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2020

Stelios Andreadis

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2019

Sargur N. Srihari.
Sargur N. Srihari (deceased)

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2018

Venu Govindaraju.
Venu Govindaraju

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2017

Rajan Batta.
Rajan Batta

Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2015

Paschalis Alexandridis.
Paschalis Alexandridis

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2012

UB President Emeritus and Mrs. Meyerson Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring

This award, which was established in the spring of 2011, recognizes the outstanding faculty mentorship that currently exists at UB and seeks to encourage further faculty commitment to and participation in the undergraduate research and creative experience.

Eleonora Botta

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2024

Mostafa Nouh.
Mostafa Nouh

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2022

Luke Ziarek.
Lukasz Ziarek

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2021

Lora Cavuoto.
Lora Cavuoto

Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2020

Wenyao Xu.
Wenyao Xu

Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Award year: 2020

Kwang Oh.
Kwang W. Oh

Department: Electrical Engineering
Award year: 2019

Johannes Hachmann.
Johannes Hachmann

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2018

John Crassidis.
John Crassidis

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2017

Mark T. Swihart.
Mark T. Swihart

Department: Chemical and Biological Engineering
Award year: 2015

James Jensen.
James Jensen

Department: Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
Award year: 2013

Kemper Lewis

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Award year: 2013

Jun Zhuang.
Jun Zhuang

Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Award year: 2012

Jennifer L. Zirnheld

Department: Electrical Engineering
Award year: 2011

UB Student Association Milton Plesur Award for Excellence in Teaching

The Milton Plesur Excellence in Teaching Award is given by the University at Buffalo undergraduate Student Association. The award is named for Plesur, a beloved teacher and scholar in the Department of History who died in 1987, and recognizes commitment to students and quality of teaching. Recipients are nominated and selected for the awards by students.  

Kevin Burke.
Kevin Burke

Department: Electrical Engineering
Award year: 2014

Adrienne Decker.
Adrienne Decker

Department: Engineering Education
Award year: 2007

UB Student Association Accessibility Award

The Accessibility Award is given by the University at Buffalo undergraduate Student Association. It honors outstanding professors who “go above and beyond to ensure the inclusiveness of all their students, regardless of their disabilities." Recipients are nominated and selected for the awards by students.

Filip Stefanovic.
Filip Stefanovic

Department: Biomedical Engineering
Award year: 2020