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Five receive Plesur Awards for excellence in teaching

Published: December 4, 2003

By DONNA BUDNIEWSKI
Reporter Assistant Editor

The undergraduate Student Association (SA) has recognized five faculty members for their commitment to students and quality of teaching by awarding them Milton Plesur Excellence in Teaching Awards.

The award is named for Plesur, a faculty member in the Department of History who died in 1987. Plesur was a beloved teacher, author and scholar of popular culture and the American presidency whose sense of humor, warmth and erudition captivated students. SA renamed its Excellence in Teaching Award for Plesur—one of its first recipients—after his death.

The recipients are:

  • Kushwal Bhardwaj, an instructor and doctoral student in the Center for the Americas in the College of Arts and Sciences. Bhardwaj concentrates his work on African American and indigenous studies. He received his undergraduate and master's degrees from UB. Recipient of an Arthur Schomburg graduate fellowship, Bhardwaj has served as a speaker and mentor to numerous ethnic and cultural organizations. He currently is teaching social studies and Latin to fifth graders at KIPP Sanfoka Charter School in Buffalo, as well as teaching "Hip Hop and Social Issues" to UB students.

  • James M. Holmes, professor in the Department of Economics in the CAS. A UB faculty member for 30 years, Holmes is a widely published scholar on such topics as the effects of minimum wage on unemployment, wage contracts, market stability and macroeconomics. His research interests also are in the areas of disequilibrium economics and the development of a theoretical basis for involuntary, cyclical unemployment and its relationship to real wages. Holmes also recently received a Certificate of Recognition for the positive influence he's had on UB students from the Division of Student Affairs, Career Planning and Placement. A two-time recipient of the Plesur teaching award—he previously received the award in 1996—Holmes is on the editorial board of the Journal of Macroeconomics.

  • Barbara Sherman, teaching assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Sherman has won numerous awards throughout her academic career, including the Equal Opportunity Program's Faculty Merit Award, the Best Dissertation Award from the International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) and the President's Award for Excellence in Academic Advisement from Buffalo State College. Sherman's research interests include managing information strategy (MIS) concerns in information systems, technology assessment, user information satisfaction, computer literacy, production, decision support systems, model management systems, data base management systems, flexible manufacturing, distribution and logistics.

  • Kenneth J. Takeuchi, professor in the Department of Chemistry in the CAS. During his 20 years at UB, Takeuchi has received numerous awards, including the Most Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award from the UB Graduate Student Association, the Chemical Manufacturers Association Responsible Care National Catalyst Award, the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching from the former Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the Friend of UB's Equal Opportunity Program Award, the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and Plesur Awards in 1985, 1989 and 1997. He also holds honorary memberships in the UB chapters of the Golden Key Society, Mortar Board and Phi Eta Sigma. In addition, he was a Lilly Teaching Fellow in 1988-89. Takeuchi's research interests include coordination chemistry of ruthenium, ligand effects on transition metal chemistry, electrochemistry, materials chemistry and battery-related chemistry.

  • Bernard A. Weinstein, professor in the Department of Physics in the CAS. During the past 25 years, Weinstein has made significant contributions in the field of high-pressure optical properties of semiconductor systems. He pioneered the use of the modern diamond-anvil-cell for Raman scattering and other optical spectroscopes, and his paper describing the initial Raman work has been cited more than 100 times in the Science Citation Index. Weinstein has been invited to lecture at numerous international conferences and workshops, and is a fellow of the American Physical Society in the Division of Condensed Matter Physics. He was awarded a SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2000.