Endowed Professors and Chairs, Accomplished Early-Career Faculty Honored

Stevens’ cohort of newly invested endowed professors and chairs during the past two academic years, as well as several rising faculty stars, were honored December 1. The recognition took place during a celebratory dinner with the Board of Trustees and university leadership in the University Center Complex’s Tech Flex Auditorium.

Vice President for Development and Alumni Engagement Laura Rose and Stevens President Nariman Farvardin offered introductory remarks, which were followed by a performance from the Friday Night Strings quartet.

Provost Jianmin Qu“Every medallion presented tonight is a testament to the brilliance and hard work of our faculty leaders,” noted Rose. “They move their disciplines forward, and they contribute to the deep sense of community that makes Stevens such a special place to pursue an education. We are ever grateful to them."

“We are grateful also to the alumni and friends who support our faculty through endowed chairs and professorships. The resources you so generously provide allow innovation to flourish at Stevens.”

Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Jianmin Qu then discussed endowed professorships before conferring medallions, together with President Farvardin, upon faculty members.

“Endowed professorships are among the very highest academic awards that a university can bestow on its faculty members,” commented Qu. “It is both an honor to the holder of the professorship and an enduring tribute to the donor who establishes it."

“The faculty members we are recognizing here tonight epitomize the caliber of faculty at Stevens who are most deserving of endowed professorship awards.”

The university’s endowed professors include:

• Cheng Chen in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering, School of Engineering and Science, the Nariman Farvardin Chair of Civil Engineering;

• Xiaojiang (James) Du in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Anson Wood Burchard Professor of Electrical Engineering;

• Brendan Englot in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Geoffrey S. Inman Junior Professor;

• Amro M. Farid in the School of Systems and Enterprises, the Alexander Crombie Humphreys Chair in Economics of Engineering;

• Yi Guo in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Thomas E. Hattrick ’42 Chair in Information Systems Engineering;

• Muhammad R. Hajj, Chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering, the George Mead Bond Professor;

• Yuping Huang in the Department of Physics, the Gallaher Associate Professor of Physics;

• Eric Koskinen in the Department of Computer Science, the Charles Berendsen Junior Professor;

• Christophe Pierre in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Jess H. Davis Chair in Mechanical Engineering;

• Lei Wu in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Anson Wood Burchard Professor of Electrical Engineering and

• Hongbin Li in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Charles and Rosanna Batchelor Memorial Chair in Electrical Engineering.

“Congratulations to all our newly endowed professors,” concluded Qu. “You are our intellectual leaders, and you are the driving force to propel Stevens onto its next stage of upward trajectory. We look forward to hearing more of your success stories.”

The hosts also recognized four recently designated Presidential Fellows, a new appellation created by President Farvardin and conferred upon junior faculty members. The fellowships reward significant early-career achievements in research and teaching.

The four current Presidential Fellows are business school professors Zachary Feinstein and Jordan Suchow, electrical and computer engineering department professor Hang Liu and biomedical engineering department professor Antonia Zaferiou.

Qu concluded the program by noting that last year, the current dean of the School of Engineering and Science (SES), Jean Zu, was named the inaugural Lore E. Feiler Dean of the School of Engineering and Science.

“The achievements — and the great potential — of these impressive teachers and researchers give me great hope for the future of Stevens and of our society,” added President Farvardin in a subsequent message to the Stevens community describing the evening.