University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

The Celebration of Faculty and Staff Excellence on Sept. 19 is a signature event of Inaugural Week.

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By SUE WUETCHER

Published: September 8, 2011

UB will recognize its outstanding faculty and staff at the eighth annual Celebration of Faculty and Staff Excellence, to take place at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in the Drama Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

The event is part of Inauguration Week activities, being held to mark the formal investiture of Satish K. Tripathi as UB’s 15th president. The investiture ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. Sept. 23 in the Center for the Arts, North Campus. Faculty and staff interested in attending the investiture should RSVP.. Students also should RSVP.

The Celebration of Faculty and Staff Excellence will recognize the work and achievement of faculty and staff in research, teaching service during 2011.

A separate ceremony recognizing student achievement will be held in April.

Those attending are asked to register online.

The celebration will honor those faculty and staff members who have been named SUNY Distinguished Professors, UB Distinguished Professors, recipients of SUNY Chancellor’s Awards, UB Exceptional Scholars and recipients of Teaching Innovation Awards.

The honorees

Recently joining the ranks of SUNY Distinguished Professor, the highest faculty rank in the SUNY system, are:

• Guyora Binder, SUNY Distinguished Professor, UB Law School
• Tony S. Conrad, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Media Studies, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)
• James A. Gardner, SUNY Distinguished Professor, UB Law School
• Cristanne C. Miller, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of English, CAS
• Timothy F. Murphy, SUNY Distinguished Professor, departments of Medicine and Microbiology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

The Office of the Provost created the UB Distinguished Professors designation to recognize full professors who have achieved true distinction and who are recognized as national and international leaders in their fields. They are:

• Robert E. Baier, professor, Department of Oral Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dental Medicine
• James E. Campbell, professor and chair, Department of Political Science, CAS
• Paul R. Knight III, professor, Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
• Teresa Quattrin, A. Conger Goodyear Professor and chair, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
• Stanley A. Schwartz, professor, departments of Medicine, Pediatrics and Microbiology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes outstanding teaching ability through superb classroom performance. Recipients are:

• John Cerne, associate professor, Department of Physics, CAS
• Ernesto G. DeNardin, professor, Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine
• Debra Anne Street, professor, Department of Sociology, CAS

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service honors members of the professional staff whose extraordinary service has significantly enriched the university. Recipients are:

• Michael D. Basinski, curator, UB Poetry Collection
• Erin E. Danna-Bailey, director of grant management, School of Social Work
• Peter H. Rittner, associate dean for educational technology, CAS
• Letitia L. Thomas, assistant vice provost and director, Cora P. Maloney College

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities recognizes outstanding academic and creative achievements across a broad spectrum of scholarly and artistic fields. Recipients are:

• Paschalis Alexandridis, UB Distinguished Professor and director of graduate studies, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, SEAS
• Paul R. Knight III, professor, Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

The Chancellor’s Award for Classified Service honors employees in the classified services who have demonstrated exceptional achievement and superior performance of duties. Recipients are:

• Carolanne “Ceci” Cirincione, presidential events assistant, Office of the President
• Julie M. Smith, administrative assistant, Office of Student Leadership and Community Engagement
• Dawn Townsend, graduate secretary, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, SEAS

Charles L. Stinger, professor, Department of History, and senior associate dean, College of Arts and Sciences, is the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service, which acknowledges faculty members who have made sustained and wide-ranging service contributions to a broad array of university constituents.

Elizabeth G. Adelman, associate librarian, UB Law Library, is the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Librarianship recognizing exceptional skill—both professional and scholarly—in librarianship.

The Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement honors outstanding professional achievement that has been focused on a particular body of work over a number of years. It recognizes 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. Recipients are:

• Steven L. Dubovsky, professor and chair, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
• Stephen L. Jacobson, professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, Graduate School of Education
• Sriram Neelamegham, professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and co-director, Center for Bioengineering, SEAS
• Hui Meng, professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, SEAS
• Dimitrios Pados, professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, SEAS
• Randall Rasmusson, professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

The 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. Recipients are:

• Sarbajit Banerjee, assistant professor, Department of Chemistry, CAS
• Jason J. Corso, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, SEAS
• Charles D. Lindsey, assistant professor, Department of Marketing, School of Management
• Atri Rudra, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, SEAS
• Puneet Singla, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, SEAS
• Jennifer L. Temple, assistant professor, Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions

Established to honor exceptional educational pedagogy, UB’s Award for Teaching recognizes faculty who have contributed significantly to engaging students with innovative new methods and approaches to teaching that have enhanced student-learning outcomes. Recipients are:

• Sathy V. Balu-Iyer, associate professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Marc S. Halfon, associate professor, Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
• Theresa A. Winkelman, clinical associate professor, School of Nursing