M E M O R A N D U M May 10, 2012 To: Members of the Board of Trustees From: Nancy L. Zimpher, Chancellor Subject: Appointment of Distinguished Professors Action Requested The proposed resolution appoints the faculty members listed below to the rank of Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York campus indicated. Resolution I recommend that the Board of Trustees adopt the following resolution: Whereas the State University of New York Board of Trustees has proudly established a historic tradition of acknowledging and honoring extraordinary faculty achievement through appointment to Distinguished Faculty Rank; and Whereas the appointment to Distinguished Faculty Rank at the state-operated campuses is both a system-wide distinction and a promotion in rank; and Whereas the SUNY Board of Trustees has the authority to bestow system-wide distinctions; now, therefore, be it, Resolved that each faculty member listed below be, and hereby is, appointed to the rank of Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York campus indicated, effective May 10, 2012: Professor Paresh Dandona, University at Buffalo Professor Peter Rogerson, University at Buffalo Professor Edward Steinfeld, University at Buffalo Professor Kenneth Dill, Stony Brook University Professor Eugene Feinberg, Stony Brook University Professor Maria Hepel, SUNY College at Potsdam Professor M. Stanley Whittingham, Binghamton University Background Appointment to the rank of Distinguished Professor is conferred upon individuals who have achieved national or international prominence and a distinguished reputation within a chosen field. This distinction is attained through significant contributions to the research literature or through artistic performance or achievement in the case of the arts. The candidates’ work must be of such character that the individuals’ presence will tend to elevate the standards of scholarship of colleagues both within and beyond these persons’ academic fields. It must be of such quality that students and scholars on other campuses of the State University could and would wish to benefit by lectures and seminars or other appropriate presentations the faculty members might bring to them. The contributions of these scholars far exceed those mentioned in this resolution. Several important characteristics are omitted for brevity's sake. The candidates are also considered superlative teachers, setting the highest academic standards for their students. Beyond their scholarship, the candidates have contributed meaningfully and consistently in several notable areas, including extensive and superior service to the profession; leadership and ongoing participation on influential disciplinary committees; membership on prestigious editorial boards; service as reviewer or consultant on regulatory, advisory, and award-making bodies; and invited presentations at conferences and symposia. The following encapsulates their disciplinary accomplishments: Paresh Dandona – Dr. Dandona, Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, is a world renowned physician scientist who has devoted his career to understanding and treating endocrine diseases, especially diabetes and obesity. He is Chief of Endocrinology and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Director of the Diabetes-Endocrinology Center of Western New York. Dr. Dandona has distinguished himself through his translational research. His discoveries of the body’s inflammatory responses to obesity and the anti-inflammatory effects and cardiovascular effects of insulin have been ground-breaking. His work demonstrated a link between diet and inflammatory responses in the body. He published a landmark report on the anti-inflammatory and potential anti-atherogenic effect of insulin as a new paradigm in treating diabetes. Dr. Dandona’s discoveries have had consistent implications for improving human health. Peter Rogerson – Dr. Rogerson joined the Department of Geography at the University at Buffalo in 1986. He is known internationally for his work in both population geography (demography) and spatial statistics. He has edited two books, and has authored or co-authored three books; one of the three is a best-selling textbook now in its third edition, and the other is a summary of the subfield of spatial surveillance, which he was instrumental in developing. He has published over 90 refereed journal papers, and has received several prestigious research grants and awards, including NSF's Presidential Young Investigator Award. His current grant from NSF was ranked "high priority funding" and focuses upon estimating the effects that phenomena such as crime and disease have on surrounding areas. Edward Steinfeld – Dr. Steinfeld is internationally known as a lead researcher on accessible environments and inclusive design. Director of the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA), Dr. Steinfeld has directed more than 30 sponsored projects including three five-year Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers on Universal Design in the Built Environment that total over $13.5 million. He has published over 150 scholarly articles/reports as well as several books on inclusive design, and is the holder of three patents. Dr. Steinfeld was Secretary of American National Standards Institute ANSI A117 and the CABO/ANSI A117, the committees that develop the consensus standards used for accessible design throughout the United States. Dr. Steinfeld is one of the developers of the Principles of Universal Design, a set of guidelines that are widely used to evaluate existing designs, guide the design process and educate both designers and consumers about the characteristics of more usable products and environments. He is a founding member of the Global Universal Design Commission, Inc., (GUDC) which was established to develop Universal Design (UD) standards for buildings, products and services. Kenneth Dill – Dr. Dill has advanced our understanding of chemistry and physics of proteins. He has helped to explain the folding code – how an amino acid sequence encodes a native structure; the folding problem – how proteins fold so quickly; protein stability – how proteins are unfolded by acids, denaturants, and heating; and sequence space – how proteins are evolutionarily related. He is known internationally for his pioneering work on the physical forces that give rise to the structures and properties of protein molecules. Professor Dill was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2008, received the first Hans Neurath Award from the Protein Society in 1998, and has been both the National Lecturer and President of the Biophysical Society. Professor Dill moved from the School of Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco in 2010 and established the Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative Biology at Stony Brook University. The new Interdisciplinary Center, under his leadership, has brought together experts in such fields as mathematics, genetics, biochemistry, engineering, and computer sciences to achieve breakthroughs in biomedical research and health care. Eugene Feinberg – Dr. Feinberg is nationally and internationally recognized as one of the world’s leading scientists in the field of operations research and its applications. For his outstanding lifetime research achievements, he has been elected as a Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS) – the largest operations research society in the world. He is also the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the National Technical University of Ukraine and the Traveling Fellow award from the London Mathematical Society. Dr. Feinberg is the Stony Brook principle investigator of the Long Island Smart Energy Corridor, a $25 million smart grid demonstration project awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to the Long Island Power Authority and two SUNY campuses. In addition to DOE, his research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, other federal and state agencies, and by industry. He serves on the editorial boards for two leading operations research journals, on an advisory board of an applied mathematics center in Australia, and has served as a council member for the INFORMS Applied Probability Society. Maria Hepel – Dr. Hepel, Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry at SUNY Potsdam, has attained national and international recognition primarily for her important work on piezoelectric sensors, quantum conductance of nanowires, and environmental remediation processes. At last count she had some 148 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals in her field. Her articles have appeared in such venues as the Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Electrochimica Acta, the Journal of Physical Chemistry, and Journal of the Electrochemical Society. Her record of external funding is also impressive for a campus, which until recently focused principally on classroom teaching. In the last three years she has been awarded $804,000 in grants. She has been an active presenter of her research at conferences, listing some 342 presentations and nearly 70 invited lectures. M. Stanley Whittingham – In his 30+ year career, Professor Whittingham has been a pioneer in the development of Lithium ion batteries and an inspiration to the next generation of chemists and materials scientists. With over 200 publications in leading scholarly journals and 16 patents, he has earned a national and international reputation as a prolific and truly innovative scientist. His research in the area of synthesis and characterization of novel transition metal oxides for energy storage and conversion, separations, or as sensors has been continuously supported since his arrival in Binghamton with over $7M in federal research grants from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. His “world leading” work in the development of materials for batteries emphasized novel approaches to synthesis, solid state characterization, and unique molecular design. It is my pleasure to present these faculty members named in this resolution to the Board of Trustees for its approval. A copy of the President’s letter for each professor is attached. The letter highlights the individual’s major career achievements, and provides the campus rationale for recommending appointment. The full dossier is available in the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. Attachments 2 -4- Board Resolution May 10, 2012