UB Professor Receives Award For Teaching Excellence

By Mara McGinnis

Release Date: October 20, 1997 This content is archived.

Print

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Kenneth J. Takeuchi, Ph.D., of East Amherst, associate professor of chemistry at the University at Buffalo, has received the inaugural Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics from Dean Joseph J. Tufariello.

The award, which consists of a certificate of recognition and a cash prize, recognizes truly superior teaching.

Specifically, it recognizes either outstanding innovations or sustained superior performance over an extended period in the following areas: teaching performance, teaching techniques and materials, instructional scholarship, student services and maintenance of appropriate academic standards.

A member of the UB faculty since 1983, Takeuchi has received a number of teaching awards. Most recently, he received the Chemical Manufacturers Association's 1997 Responsible Care Catalyst Award, which honors individuals who, through their excellent teaching ability, both in and out of the classroom, inspire students to choose careers in chemistry and other science-related fields.

Takeuchi also is the recipient of a SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching; the Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Milton Plesur Teaching Award, both from the UB Student Association, and the UB Friend of EOP (Educational Opportunity Program) Award.

He has served as a mentor to a number of student programs, including the Minority High School Student Research Apprenticeship Program, the New York State Summer Institute for Science and Mathematics, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program and the University Honors Program.

His research interests focus primarily on coordination chemistry and transition metal redox chemistry, work that makes possible the synthesis of new complexes and the study of new chemical reactions, including redox-based catalysis.

Takeuchi holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati and a doctorate in chemistry from The Ohio State University.