14 SEAS Faculty Recognized at UB's Celebration of Faculty & Staff Academic Excellence

14 faculty from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences were honored this year in UB's Celebration of Faculty Excellence.

The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences was well-represented at the University at Buffalo's Celebration of Faculty Excellence. 14 faculty members were honored at this year's event. From left are: UB President Satish Tripathi, Chi Zhou, Lu Su, Zhi Sun, Lukasz Ziarek, Venu Govindaraju, Jinhui Xu, Kemper Lewis, Albert Titus, Michel Bruneau, Chunming Qiao, and Provost Charles Zukoski. Not pictured are: Stephen Margolis, John Crassidis, Blaine Pfeifer and Alexander Nikolaev. Photo Credit: Joe Cascio.

Published November 6, 2017 This content is archived.

Fourteen faculty from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are among those who were honored for notable achievement, service and teaching at UB's 2017 Celebration of Faculty and Staff Academic Excellence.

Awardees Recognized as Scholars, Teachers

SUNY Distinguished Professor

In recognition of exceptional faculty merit, the State University of New York Board of Trustees designates leading State University faculty members as Distinguished Professors. This rank is accorded to faculty who have distinguished their campus and State University communities through outstanding academic contributions, including scholarly publications, national and international research presentations, research findings, and the training of students. The State University of New York Board of Trustees grant Distinguished Teaching Professorships to faculty members whose pedagogical accomplishments are extraordinary. The State University of New York Board of Trustees award Distinguished Service Professorships to those whose outstanding academic careers have included a particular focus on serving the university and its larger constituencies.

  • Chunming Qiao, Department of Computer Science and Engineering. 

Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities

In 2002, the State University of New York announced the creation of the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, designed to recognize outstanding academic and creative achievements across a broad spectrum of scholarly and artistic fields. Recipients of the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities are university faculty members who consistently go above and beyond their teaching and professional duties to make extraordinary contributions to their respective fields.

  • Michel Bruneau, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
  • Jinhui Xu, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service

The State University of New York announced the inauguration of the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service in 2004. This honor acknowledges faculty who have made sustained and wide-ranging service contributions to a broad array of university constituents. Recipients of the Award for Excellence in Faculty Service have distinguished themselves through exceptional service to the university and to their communities, as well as to their disciplinary, professional, and faculty governance organizations at the statewide, national, and international levels.

  • Albert H. Titus, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Fifty Years of Service to UB

The University is pleased to recognize the following faculty member who recently achieved an exceptional milestone, completing 50 years of service to UB.

  • Stephen G. Margolis, Department of Electrical Engineering

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.

  • John L. Crassidis, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 

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 5 years.

  • Venu Govindaraju, Department of Computer Science and Engineering 

Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement

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.

  • Kemper Lewis, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Blaine Pfeifer, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Exceptional Scholar Award for Young Investigators

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.

  • Lu Su, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
  • Zhi Sun, Department of Electrical Engineering
  • Chi Zhou, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering 

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.

  • Alexander Nikolaev, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
  • Lukasz Ziarek, Department of Computer Science and Engineering