SUNY Board of Trustees Appoints 24 Faculty to Distinguished Ranks

Albany -- The State University of New York Board of Trustees today approved the appointments of 24 faculty members to distinguished ranks that constitute the highest system tribute conferred upon SUNY instructional faculty. The Board appointed six faculty to Distinguished Professor rank, nine faculty to Distinguished Service Professor rank, and nine faculty to Distinguished Teaching Professor rank.

 

“SUNY has now conferred its highest faculty honor upon more than 850 current and retired professors from across the system,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. “These honors recognize their extraordinary achievements as teachers, scholars and mentors, which are a tremendous source of pride for the State University."

 

“It is with great pride that we recognize SUNY’s most brilliant scholars and teachers and those whose service to the community and to SUNY merit the distinguished ranking,” said Board Chairman Carl T. Hayden. “We are grateful for their contributions to our students, to SUNY, the communities we serve and the body of knowledge in their chosen field of inquiry. The Board joins with the recipients’ families and campuses in celebrating their academic, service, research and teaching accomplishments.”

 

Since the program’s inception in 1963, SUNY has appointed 852 faculty to distinguished ranks, as follows, including these most recent appointments: 276 Distinguished Professorships; 259 Distinguished Service Professorships; 315 Distinguished Teaching Professorships; and 2 Distinguished Librarian Professorships. For more information about SUNY’s faculty award program, please click here.

 

The Distinguished Professorship is conferred upon individuals at SUNY’s state-operated campuses who have achieved national or international prominence and a distinguished reputation within the individual’s chosen field. This distinction is attained through significant contributions to the research literature or through artistic performance or achievement in the fine and performing 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 the individual’s academic field. It must also be of such quality that students and scholars on other SUNY campuses could and do benefit by lectures and seminars, or other appropriate presentations the faculty members might bring to them. Appointment constitutes a promotion to the SUNY’s highest academic rank and is conferred solely by the SUNY Board of Trustees. The expectation is that individuals so appointed will be accorded such support as is appropriate to the individual’s academic endeavor, consistent with the resources of the campus, including a salary above the mean salary for full professors. Receiving this promotion today are:

 

• Professor Leonard Epstein, Pediatrics, University at Buffalo
• Professor Alexis Levitin, English, SUNY Plattsburgh
• Professor Steven Lynn, Psychology, Binghamton University
• Professor Sanford Miller, Mathematics, SUNY Brockport
• Professor John Parise, Geosciences, Stony Brook University
• Professor James Piorkowski, Music, SUNY Fredonia

 

 The Distinguished Service Professorship is conferred upon instructional faculty at SUNY’s state-operated and community colleges who have achieved a notable reputation for extraordinary service not only to the campus and to SUNY, but also to the community, the State of New York and/or even the nation, by sustained effort in the application of intellectual skills drawing from the candidate’s scholarly and research interests to issues of public concern. Further, many candidates for appointment have rendered influential service contributing at the international level. To be eligible for the nomination, 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. More importantly, the service must extend over multiple years. 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, should have no less than three years of full-time service at the nominating institution, and have completed at least 10 years of full-time service to SUNY. Receiving this promotion today are:

 

• Professor H. Ragjavendra Rao, Management Science and Systems, University at Buffalo
• Professor David Carson, History and Social Studies, Buffalo State College
• Professor Suzanne Mirra, Pathology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
• Professor Barbara Warkentine, Science, Maritime College  
• Professor Alfred Frederick, Curriculum and Instruction, SUNY Oswego
• Professor Edward Miller, Chemistry, SUNY Plattsburgh

 

In addition, the following individuals were appointed to this rank in an honorific capacity:

 

• Professor Gene Grabiner, Social Science, Erie Community College
• Professor Arthur Kopelman, Science and Mathematics, Fashion Institute of Technology
• Professor Barbara Connolly, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Westchester Community College

 

The Distinguished Teaching Professorship recognizes and honors mastery of teaching at the graduate, undergraduate or professional levels. 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 within the SUNY System, and must have regularly carried a full-time teaching load as defined by the campus. Receiving this promotion today are:

 

• Professor Antonio E. Alfonso, Surgery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
• Professor David K. Geiger, Chemistry, SUNY Geneseo
• Professor Mark Karwan, Industrial and Systems Engineering, University at Buffalo
• Professor Robin W. Kimmerer, Environmental and Forest Biology, SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
• Professor Susan Leist, English, SUNY Buffalo State College
• Professor Thomas Loughlin, Theatre and Dance, SUNY Fredonia
• Professor Stephen Vitkun, Anesthesiology, Stony Brook University

 

In addition, the following individuals were appointed to this rank in an honorific capacity:

 

• Professor Richard Firenze, Biology, Broome Community College
• Professor Bernard Gorman, Psychology, Nassau Community College

 

Biography information on all of these individuals is available online.

 

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United State s, educating nearly 465,000 students in 7,351 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu 

 

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