Board of Trustees Appoints Five Faculty to Distinguished Professor Ranks

Albany -- The SUNY Board of Trustees today approved the appointments of five faculty at the University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University to distinguished ranks, as recommended by campus colleagues and SUNY Interim Chancellor Dr. John B. Clark. All of the today’s distinguished rank appointments are effective immediately.

 “SUNY faculty who receive appointment to the distinguished ranks provide a glimpse of the broad service contributions and the career achievements being made on our campuses across New York State” Clark said. “Each of these individuals has met and exceeded the requirements for this honor and I commend the Board of Trustees for recognizing their talent and service by approving their appointments to distinguished ranks.”

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 arts.  The candidates’ work must be of such character that the individuals’ presence will elevate the standards of scholarship of colleagues both within and beyond these persons’ academic fields.  It must also be of such quality that students and scholars on other SUNY campuses could and would wish to benefit by lectures and seminars or other appropriate presentations the faculty members might bring to them.  The following faculty received this appointment: 

Douglas H. Clements – Professor of Learning and Instruction in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Clements is widely regarded as “the major scholar” in the field of early childhood mathematics education, one with equal relevance to the academy, to the classroom, and to the educational policy arena.  At the national level, his contributions have led to the development of new mathematics curricula, teaching approaches, and teacher training initiatives, as well as having a tremendous impact on educational planning and policy, particularly in the area of mathematical literacy and access.  Appointed in 2006 to the President’s National Mathematics Advisory Panel, he has also served on a number of key federal advisory panels addressing educational policy issues, including the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ curriculum committee and that body’s Standards 2000 Project. 

Vladimir V. Mitin – Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Mitin is one of the world’s pre-eminent scholars of nanophononics, the branch of nanotechnology concerned with heat transfer and energy exchange at the nanoscale level.  Dr. Mitin’s work in this area has been instrumental in shaping current understanding of nanoscale thermal management, and has broad-ranging significance, with important applications that include energy efficiency, national security, and cancer treatment.  Instrumental to developing the University at Buffalo’s nanoengineering program, he established the interdisciplinary UB Center on Hybrid Nanodevices and Systems, and created the first nanoelectronics laboratory in the United States for undergraduates.  He has earned a number of high honors throughout his distinguished career, including the prestigious Humboldt Fellowship in the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart, Germany.

Stephen Rudin – Professor of Radiology at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Rudin is a world-renowned expert in the field of medical physics.  The quintessential interdisciplinary research scientist, Dr. Rudin is an international force in the development of a host of cutting-edge technology and methodology in the area of medical imaging.  He has won multiple awards for scientific excellence as well as awards for excellence in design, and is particularly well-known for his work in developing a solid state image intensifier and his research in asymmetric stents, work with major theoretical and clinical implications for medical physics, biomedical engineering, and diagnostic radiology, as well as an immediate impact upon patient diagnosis and care, particularly in cases of heart and brain treatment. 

Barbara V. Jacak – Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University. Dr. Jacak is an internationally renowned nuclear physicist who uses heavy ion collisions for fundamental studies of hot, dense nuclear matter.  After carrying out important experiments at accelerator laboratories in the United States and Europe, she has been since 1995 a leading member of the collaboration that built and operates the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory.  She has led the Stony Brook PHENIX Group since arriving as Professor of Physics in 1997.  In December 2006, the more than 500 scientists of the PHENIX Collaboration elected Jacak to lead them as Spokesperson.  Their co-discovery the quark gluon plasma and its strongly coupled, liquid-like behavior was hailed as the top physics story of 2005 by the American Institute of Physics. 

Roger Rosenblatt – Professor of English at Stony Brook University. Dr. Rosenblatt is a public intellectual who is also a brilliant novelist and playwright, as well as a superb teacher.  He is a beloved and immensely prolific essayist and commentator, both in print and on the Public Broadcasting System’s News Hour.  He has published over 300 essays and articles as well as ten books, over the last three decades.  His eleventh book, his novel Beet, will appear in the spring of 2008.  He also has two new plays in rehearsal.  At every point, Roger’s career has been marked by great distinction.  He was a house Master at Harvard, Director of Education at the National Endowment for the Humanities, and an editor at six of the most influential journals in the country.  His list of awards and honors runs from a Fulbright Scholarship to five honorary doctorates, to an Emmy. 

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 427,000 students in 7,669 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. 

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