The George R. Brown School of Engineering recognized the work of its faculty and staff at its annual Engineering Awards reception on April 12 in McMurty Auditorium.
"We don't do enough to recognize the greatness of our faculty, staff and students," said Reginald DesRoches, the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering. "This is our opportunity to do that."
Boris Yakobson, the Karl F. Hasselmann Chair of Engineering, received Outstanding Faculty Research Award, the top honor for faculty.
"I want to thank my students, my department and, of course, the school," Yakobson said.
Faculty Awards
Outstanding Faculty Research Award
- Boris Yakobson, Materials Science and NanoEngineering
Awarded to a faculty member who most contributed to highly impactful publications or publicly available software, based on research conducted at Rice and published/developed during the period January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2018.
Young Faculty Research Award
- David Zhang, Bioengineering
Recognizes outstanding research achievements, as evidenced by publications, program development results, software, and other research contributions. Given to a faculty member of rank no higher than assistant professor or assistant research professor.
Teaching + Research Excellence Award
- Robert Griffin, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Philip Ernst, Statistics
Given annually to two faculty members, one tenured and one tenure-track who demonstrate excellence in both teaching and research.
Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Adviser Award
- Junghae Suh, Bioengineering
Awarded in recognition of the achievements of a faculty member’s doctoral students who completed all degree requirements from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2018.
Curriculum Innovation Award
- Scott Rixner, Computer Science
Recognizes a faculty member who is improving the quality of education at Rice University through pedagogical and curricular innovation. Open to full-time tenure track or teaching faculty.
Outstanding Postdoctoral Research Award
- Jing Zhang, Materials Science and NanoEngineering
Recognizes a postdoctoral researcher currently at Rice who has significantly contributed to a research program through highly impactful publications, proposal writing, or other endeavors at Rice University.
Staff Awards
Hardy M. Bourland Award for Distinguished Service
- Barbara Windish, Academic Program Administrator, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Annepha Hurlock-Blake, Department Coordinator, Computer Science
Recognizes two staff members (one exempt and one non-exempt) in the School of Engineering whose performance is consistently outstanding or whose contributions have significantly improved the School of Engineering or Rice as a whole.
Rising Star Award
- Emmanuel Tunley, Executive Administrator, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Recognizes a staff member who has created or utilized an opportunity to grow and develop in their role and as a result, has made important contributions to their unit. Given to individuals beginning their career at Rice within the past three years.
University Awards
To be presented at the University Awards Ceremony on April 18:
George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching
- Luay Nakhleh, Computer Science
George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching
- Keith Cooper, Computer Science
- Renata Ramos, Bioengineering
- Gary Woods, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Award for Excellence in Teaching in the School of Engineering
- Marya Cokar, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
School of Engineering Awards Selection Committee
- Marek Kimmel
- Jun Lou
- T.S. Eugene Ng
- Ashutosh Sabharwal
- Ilinca Stanciulescu
- Tayfun E. Tezduyar
- Tomasz Tkaczyk
- Kyriacos Zygourakis