M E M O R A N D U M May 10, 2011 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, 2011: Professor Michael D. Berzonsky, SUNY College at Cortland Professor Guyora Binder, University at Buffalo Professor Tony Conrad, University at Buffalo Professor James A. Gardner, University at Buffalo Professor Michael Kimmel, Stony Brook University Professor Ronald N. Miles, Binghamton University Professor Cristanne Miller, University at Buffalo Professor Timothy F. Murphy, University at Buffalo Professor Todd Sacktor, SUNY Downstate Medical Center Professor Bahgat G. Sammakia, Binghamton University Professor Frank R. Vellutino, University at Albany Professor Shelemyahu Zacks, 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: Michael D. Berzonsky – During his 40-year career at the SUNY College at Cortland, Professor Berzonsky has distinguished himself internationally as a prolific researcher and scholar in the fields of cognitive psychology and identity styles. He has over 70 publications in major peer-reviewed journals, has authored two books, and has edited two others. He serves on seven editorial boards. He presents frequently at international and national conferences. His recommenders consider Dr. Berzonsky a pioneer and major contributor to the psychology field, and his research is regarded as precedent-setting. His Identity Style Inventory has been adopted world-wide and has been translated into a host of non-English languages. In 2006, his work was highlighted at a major conference in the Netherlands, “European Conference on the Theory and Measurement of Identity Style.” In 2009, he was the invited keynote speaker for the 18th Conference of Developmental Psychologists, in Wroclaw, Poland. Professor Berzonsky received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities in 2008, as well as the College of Cortland’s Outstanding Achievement in Research Award (2008). Guyora Binder – Professor Binder is recognized as one of the leading legal academics in the United States today. His extraordinary and widely acclaimed body of work as a leading author, thinker, and teacher in the fields of criminal law, and law and literature places him at the pinnacle of the academy. Professor Binder is widely acclaimed as a scholar and writer. He has been listed among the "50 Most Prolific Law Professors" in Jalnes Lindgren and Daniel Seltzer, "The Most Prolific Law Professors and Faculties," 71 Chicago-Kent Law Review 781 (1996). The sheer volume of substantive and highly quoted articles in the top law reviews in the country is an unequivocal index of the high quality of his work and a mark of academic excellence. He has been rated by successive UB Law students as one of the best and most attentive teachers. Professor Binder has chaired the Appointments Committee seven times. Currently, he is the chair of the President's Review Board, and was its member from 2001-04. The totality of Professor Binder's work, teaching, and service is extraordinary. Tony Conrad – Professor Conrad has been an internationally recognized experimental artist for more than 40 years and he has produced foundational work in a number of areas. In film, one external evaluator calls Conrad's early experimental film The Flicker “One of the most important experimental films to be produced in the last 60 years.” In music, he was a pioneering force in the development of Minimalism and this aspect of his work is the subject of an important critical study published last year by ZONE/MIT Press. He continues to produce important work in these areas and another external evaluator calls Professor Conrad "one of the most inspirational and influential figures working today in that elastic zone between experimental music, film and visual arts.” This year, he was an invited artist at the Venice Biennale, and his many other recent performances and exhibitions include Whitney Biennale and the Biennale de Lyon. James A. Gardner – Professor Gardner is one of the most accomplished law professors in the country. Professor Gardner is recognized throughout legal academia as a person who has transformed his field and set the standard for new thinking in the area of state constitutional law. He is highly prolific and has unequivocally demonstrated the highest levels of productivity of anyone at UB Law and beyond. Professor Gardner has published 13 articles in the top 25 most cited law reviews. His works have been cited more than 1000 times. He is a frequent commentator in both state and national media on constitutionalism and elections law. He has been voted the best teacher in the Law School. Professor Gardner has accomplished these feats even as he carried a full teaching load and, lately, senior administrative posts at the University. He currently occupies the demanding position of Vice Dean for Academics. Professor Gardner also serves as the Director of the Edwin F. Jaeckle Center for State and Local Democracy. Michael Kimmel – Professor Kimmel is an internationally known figure in the sociological and historical study of gender and masculinity, with an unmatched record as a researcher, teacher and mentor. He played a pioneering role in developing the now flourishing interdisciplinary study of masculinities; and is now perhaps the pre-eminent scholar in that area. Professor Kimmel has written or edited 20 books, published scores of journal articles and chapters, and hundreds of reviews and commentaries. He has founded and edited a key journal, delivered keynote addresses at conferences on every continent, and presented expert testimony in a range of judicial settings. Professor Kimmel has become a highly influential public intellectual, whose work continues to have an indelible impact on scholarly trajectories while also impacting policy development and the public understanding of masculinities. He has trained a generation of young scholars, and provided institutional and scholarly visibility for the work of a cohort of important gender researchers. Ronald N. Miles – Professor Miles is a rare combination of a thinker and innovator with the ability to turn scientific theories into engineering wonders. He has successfully interwoven the fields of neurobiology, mechanics, and acoustics to develop a biomimetic sensor with exceptional directivity for hearing and applications. His work has the ability to improve the quality of life for an estimated 500 million people worldwide who suffer from hearing loss. Dr. Miles’ scholarship includes over 100 publications in leading journals of his field, national and international conferences, invited lectures and workshops. Over the past 11 years, he has received more than $11 million in continuous funding from NIH and another $5 million to date from other federal, state, corporate and charitable sources. He received the largest, single-principal investigator grant in the history of Binghamton University -- $6.5 million from NIH in 2003. He is the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the University Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Research Foundation Outstanding Inventor, and the Chancellor’s Award for Research in Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Cristanne Miller – Professor Miller began her academic career at Pomona College, a leading liberal arts college where she held the position of W.M. Keck Distinguished Service Professor. She came to UB as the Department Chair of English, one of the largest and most diverse departments in the College of Arts and Sciences. In conjunction with that appointment, she is also the current holder of the Butler Chair and maintains an active and well?respected scholarly oeuvre in American poetry, particularly the work of Emily Dickinson. To date, she has published four books (with two others in process), has generated numerous journal articles and edited compilations, and has been invited to present over 40 scholarly papers during the course of her career. She has served as the reviewer of critical books and poetry for the Library Journal, is the Editor of The Emily Dickinson Journal, and for several years served on the Publication Board for the Modern Languages Association. Professor Miller is a major figure in American Poetry scholarship, and has garnered national and international acclaim for her work. Timothy F. Murphy – Professor Murphy is an outstanding physician scientist. His research, continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1983, focuses on nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis, important pathogens in otitis media (ear infections) and lower respiratory tract infections in children and adults with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). A goal of his work is to develop vaccines to prevent these infections, with specific outer membrane proteins being evaluated as potential vaccine antigens. Dr. Murphy has been honored as the Niagara Frontier Inventor of the Year (1992, 1996 and 1998) for his work in developing vaccines, and holds vaccine patents in 5 countries. In addition, a COPD Study Clinic supported by a grant from the Department of Veteran Affairs has been running continuously since 1994. These studies will enable appropriate therapeutic pharmacological and immunological targeting to treat these infections. Todd Sacktor – How the brain stores long-term memory is a fundamental question in biology. Professor Sacktor’s lab discovered the first molecular mechanism that maintains long-term memory. This discovery was based upon experiments on a form of synaptic plasticity in the brain, termed Long-Term Potentiation (LTP). Dr. Sacktor showed that the mechanism for maintaining LTP over time involves a unique, persistently active kinase, called Protein kinase Mzeta (PKM?), a form of PKC discovered in the Sacktor lab. He and colleagues showed that this mechanism not only maintains LTP, but underlies the persistence of long-term memory. As published in Science, inhibiting PKM? with a drug caused the erasure of memories that had been learned a day, or even a month before. This work on PKM? and memory was highlighted as one of the ten “Breakthroughs of the Year 2006” by the editors of Science. Recently, in another paper in Science, Professor Sacktor and colleagues showed that increasing PKM? in the brain enhanced old, faded memories. These results represent a fundamental breakthrough in understanding the biological mechanism of memory storage, with important implications for neurology and psychiatry. Bahgat G. Sammakia – Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the New York State Center of Excellence in Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging, Professor Sammakia’s path-breaking and innovative research has principally addressed (i) the thermal management of electronic devices and (ii) electronic systems integration and packaging. The knowledge generated by his work has helped address the enormous challenges posed by increased thermal dissipation for devices that keep shrinking in size, but increasing in thermal capacity and functional capability. Professor Sammakia has published over 150 well-cited articles in peer-reviewed journals and at highly selective conferences. He has co-authored a book and has contributed to seven book chapters. Over the past decade, his research funding has exceeded $30 million, and has been provided by federal sources (including NSF, DARPA, NASA, Army Research Labs and NNSA), industry (including IBM, Corning, Xerox, GE, Analog Devices and National Semiconductor), and by New York State. Professor Sammakia holds 14 U.S. patents and over 20 invention disclosures have been filed during the past decade. He is an ASME fellow and editor in chief of the ASME Transactions Journal of Electronics Packaging. Professor Sammakia has been recognized through numerous awards including the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Research, Chancellor’s Promising Inventor’s Award, and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities. Frank R. Vellutino – Professor Vellutino joined the University at Albany faculty in 1966, and is currently Professor of Educational Psychology and Director of the Child Research and Study Center. Dr. Vellutino is known internationally for his seminal scholarship in the field of reading education and learning disabilities. His research has reframed the ways in which scholars, practitioners, and policy makers think about learning, literacy, and disability. His seminal book, Dyslexia: Theory and Research, is an enduring classic in the field. Professor Vellutino's research has attracted more than $16 million in grants from federal, state, and private sponsors. He also serves frequently as a consultant and advisor to education agencies and organizations. He was recently inducted into the International Reading Association's Hall of Fame in recognition of his substantial contributions over a sustained period. In addition to his scholarship, Professor Vellutino is a valued teacher and mentor at the University at Albany, as well as a dedicated campus citizen. Shelemyahu Zacks – Professor Zacks is a celebrated statistician of immense international stature who, quite literally, wrote the book on applied probabilistic statistics. He has influenced his field through his innovative and ground-breaking research. His extensive writing includes several benchmark books and well over 130 research articles in leading mathematical journals. His vast editorial work combined with his superior mentoring of young colleagues and students have had a significant impact on the field of probabilistic statistics that extends well beyond mathematics. Zack’s research is of extraordinary breadth and depth. It sparks with brilliance and originality, pioneering, and shaping new fields of research, while advancing and profoundly impacting many others. Examples are design of experiments, statistical inference, Bayesian analysis, sampling from finite populations, predictive analysis, sequential analysis, reliability, and applied probability. He has applied his strong theoretical background to a variety of real-world problems, creating new methodologies in such diverse fields as quality control in industrial settings, stochastic control of production processes, reliability issues in engineering, tracking problems of moving objects, and design and analysis of experiments in pharmaceutical and medical research. 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 Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Attachments 2 -2- Board Resolution May 10, 2011