SUNY Board Appoints 22 Faculty to Distinguished Service &Teaching Professor Ranks

Albany -- The SUNY Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved the appointments of 22 faculty to distinguished service professor and teaching professor ranks, as recommended by campus colleagues and SUNY Interim Chancellor Dr. John B. Clark. All of the distinguished rank appointments are effective immediately.

 “SUNY faculty who receive appointment to the distinguished ranks are truly representative of the broad service contributions and the career achievements being made by faculty on each of our 64 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.”

The Distinguished Service Professorship honors and recognizes extraordinary service.  Candidates must have demonstrated substantial distinguished service not only at the campus and the State University, but also at the community, regional and State levels.  Further, many candidates for appointment have rendered influential service, contributing at the national and international levels. Also to be considered, service must exceed the work generally considered to be a part of a candidate’s basic professional work (professional committees, etc.) and should include service that exceeds that for which professors are normally compensated.  It must also extend over multiple years and, very importantly, must involve the application of intellectual skills drawing from the candidate’s scholarly and research interests to issues of public concern.

In addition to the selection criteria for the Distinguished Service Professorship, to be nominated a faculty member must have held the rank of full professor for five years, have three years of full-time service at the nominating institution, and have completed at least 10 years of full-time service for SUNY. The following 13 faculty received this appointment: 

• Professor Laura S. Anker, American Studies, SUNY Old Westbury
• Professor John W. Chaffee, History, Binghamton University
• Professor Joan Bender Cracco, Neurology and Pediatrics, Downstate Medical Center
• Professor Marie C. Gelato, Medicine, Stony Brook University
• Professor David M. Hanson, Chemistry, Stony Brook University
• Professor Samuel L. Kelley, Communication Studies, SUNY Cortland
• Professor Daniel S. Marrone, Management of Technology, Farmingdale State
• Professor Raymond G. Romanczyk, Psychology, Binghamton University
• Professor Carl P. Wiezalis, College of Health Professions, Upstate Medical Center
• Professor Philip Cheifetz, Mathematics, Computer Science and Information Technology, Nassau Community College
• Professor John D. Christesen, Business, Westchester Community College
• Professor S. Arthur Lundahl, Student Affairs, Suffolk County Community College
• Professor Joseph A. Varacalli, Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Nassau Community College

The Distinguished Teaching Professorship recognizes and honors mastery of teaching.  For this prestigious tribute to be conferred, candidates must have demonstrated consistently superior mastery of teaching, outstanding service to students and commitment to their ongoing intellectual growth, scholarship and professional growth, and adherence to rigorous academic standards and requirements. Further, to be eligible for nomination, a faculty member must have attained and held the rank of full professor for five years, have completed at least three years of full-time teaching on the nominating campus, 10 years of full-time teaching in the SUNY System, and must have regularly carried a full-time teaching load as defined by the campus at the undergraduate, graduate, or professional level.  The following nine faculty received this appointment:

• Professor Karla J. Alwes, English, SUNY Cortland
• Professor James D. Armstrong, Anthropology, SUNY Plattsburgh
• Professor Ellen M. Ginzler, Medicine, Downstate Medical Center
• Professor William L. Jungers, Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University
• Professor Frank Myers, Political Science, Stony Brook University
• Professor Beverly Rainforth, School of Education, Binghamton University
• Professor Kenneth J. Takeuchi, Chemistry, University at Buffalo
• Professor Joseph J. Zambon, Periodontics and Endodontics, University at Buffalo                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
• Professor Clark M. Zlotchew, Modern Languages and Literatures, SUNY Fredonia

Since the program’s inception in 1963, SUNY has appointed 790 faculty to distinguished ranks, as follows, including these most recent appointments: 258 Distinguished Professorships; 240 Distinguished Service Professorships; 290 Distinguished Teaching Professorships; and 2 Distinguished Librarian Professorships. For more information about SUNY’s faculty award program, please click here.

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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