LAS Distinguished Professors

 

The Liberal Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor award was established in 2006 to commend exceptional faculty for their contributions to the LAS and UIC communities, as well as for their significant and sustained intellectual scholarship in their chosen fields. Each year, the Executive Committee of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences votes for superlative candidates in the humanities, social sciences, the natural sciences or interdisciplinary fields.

 

 

2011-12

 

Henri Gillet (PhD, Harvard University) is a professor of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. He is a leading figure in arithmetic geometry, an important area of mathematics at the cusp of number theory and algebraic geometry. Gillet has worked extensively in arithmetic intersection theory and the arithmetic generalizations of Riemann-Roch for the last few decades, allowing mathematicians using algebraic geometry to better attack questions in number theory. His most fundamental contribution to the field was a collaborative effort with Christophe Soulé in arithmetic intersection theory, which was critical in Falting's proof of Lang's Conjecture for sub-varieties of abelian varieties. This is considered by many to be one of the greatest achievements in number theory in the 20th century. Gillet's research has been published extensively, most notably in the three most prestigious journals of mathematics: Annals of Mathematics, Journal of the AMS and Inventiones Mathematica. His work has been recognized by numerous awards and honors--in 2008 he was named a Senior Scholar by the Clay Mathematics Institute, a who's who of the best in mathematics. A longtime model citizen in the UIC academic community, Gillet is currently serving as Interim Dean of the Graduate College, and was previously head of the department of mathematics, statistics, and computer science as well as serving on numerous academic committees.

2010-11

 

Brian Kay (PhD, Yale University) is a professor of biology and a world expert in the field of molecular recognition, the science of how proteins selectively interact with each other inside cells. His research group of 13 individuals utilizes phage-displayed libraries of combinatorial peptides, antibody fragments, and engineered proteins to probe the surfaces of proteins and identify contact sites for binding. This approach is being currently applied to develop biosensors for protein kinases, create tools to study protein expression in cells and organisms, generate affinity reagents to bacterial and human membrane proteins, and develop diagnostics for monitoring laser-induced eye damage. He has authored 110 scientific reports and reviews, co-edited three books, and been issued 15 patents. For the past five years, he has served as head as the Department of Biological Sciences at UIC. During that time, he has also been an Honors College fellow, and participated on search committees for Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and President of the University of Illinois. He also teaches introductory and advanced cell biology courses to undergraduates, and advanced molecular biology to graduate students at UIC.

Sivalingam Sivananthan (PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago) is a professor of physics and the director of the
MicroPhysics Lab in the UIC Department of Physics.  He has been a pioneer in the growth of single-crystal II-VI materials on silicon for twenty years and proposed their use for the manufacture of ultrahigh-efficiency single-crystal II-VI on silicon photovoltaic solar cells fifteen years ago. Sivananthan founded EPIR Technologies in 1997 for the commercialization of MBE-grown CdTe on silicon (CdTe/Si) for defense infrared night vision applications and the development of ultrahigh-efficiency photovoltaic solar cells. EPIR has grown over the past decade out of Sivanathan’s basement into a world-class research and development organization and, more recently, a manufacturing enterprise. His honors include a 2005 “Friend of the Night” award by the U.S. Army Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate for his leadership in this field. He serves as a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Infrared and Millimeter Waves  and the National Advisory Board for the Nanotechnology Core Facility.  His continuing contributions to the field of II-VI semiconductor research and development are evidenced by his over 200 refereed publications and his numerous invited talks.

Luis Alberto Urrea is a professor of creative writing, a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for nonfiction and member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame. Born in Tijuana, Mexico to a Mexican father and an American mother, Urrea has published extensively in all the major genres and has won numerous awards for his poetry, fiction and essays. The Devil's Highway, his 2004 non-fiction account of a group of Mexican immigrants lost in the Arizona desert, won the Lannan Literary Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Pacific Rim Kiriyama Prize. The Hummingbird's Daughter, an historical novel, tells the story of Teresa Urrea, the unofficial Saint of Cabora and Mexico’s Joan of Arc. The book, which involved 20 years of research and writing, won the Kiriyama Prize in fiction. The Devil's Highway, The Hummingbird's Daughter and Urrea’s most recent novel, Into the Beautiful North, have been chosen by more than 30 different cities and colleges for One Book community read programs. Before coming to UIC, Urrea taught at Harvard University, the University of Colorado and University of Louisiana-Lafayette. Prior to teaching, Urrea served as relief worker in Tijuana, a film extra and columnist-editor-cartoonist for several publications.

2009-10

 

Peter Shalen (PhD, Harvard University) is a professor of mathematics and one of the leading figures in low dimensional topology, a branch of mathematics that studies conceptual spaces called manifolds. He is also an affiliate professor at the University of Haifa, and a member of the International Advisory Board for Academic Freedom of Bar-Ilan University. His research interests are three-dimensional topology, hyperbolic geometry, and geometric and combinatorial group theory. He has served on the editorial board for Bulletin of the American Math Society and on several NSF grant review committees. With his work appearing in the most prestigious journals in mathematics, including the Bulletin of the American Math Society, Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra, and Geometric Topology, Shalen has contributed to nearly every critical aspect of geometric topology. At UIC, he has built a world class group in geometry and typology and attracted promising doctoral and post doctoral students.

Henry Howe (PhD, University of Michigan) is a professor of biology and a preeminent ecologist whose primary research tests dispersal limitation in tropical trees in the restoration of plant dispersal processes in southern Mexico. Recent projects include a large exclosure project at the Morton Arboretum that tested the effects of seed-eating by birds and foliage consumption by voles on the density, productivity, dominance, species richness, and diversity of synthetic tall-grass communities. Other projects along these lines involve rodent exclosures in Wisconsin, and several studies of the effects of burn season on the population and community ecology of tall-grass restorations. He is the co-author of Ecological Relationships of Plants and Animals, as well as the author of numerous articles that have appeared in Biotropica, Evolution, and American Naturalist. The recipient of numerous grants and awards from the likes of the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society, he currently serves as director of graduate Studies in ecology and evolution in the UIC Department of Biological Sciences.

Lennard J. Davis (PhD, Columbia University, New York) is a professor of English and disability studies. His most recent book Obsession: A History, published in November, 2008, explores the way obsessive-compulsive behaviors function within our society, both positively and negatively. The book received wide critical acclaim, including a place on the list of Chicago Tribune’s Top Five Books by Chicagoans in 2008. Davis is also the recipient of a Guggenheim Foundation Award, a Fulbright Award, and his book My Sense of Silence was nominated for a National Book Award. In total, he has written or edited twelve books. In addition to his appointments in English, Disability Studies and the UIC School of Medicine, Davis is also the director of Project Biocultures, a think-tank devoted to issues around the intersection of culture, medicine, disability, biotechnology, and the biosphere. His current interests include disability-related issues, literary and cultural theory, as well as genetics, race, identity and biocultural issues.

 

 

2008-09

 

Lawrence Man Hou Ein (PhD, University of California, Berkeley) is a professor of mathematics and a leading authority in algebraic geometry. Ein was an American Mathematical Society Centennial Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies, and a CLE Moore Instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining the UIC faculty in 1985. Ein has been a visiting professor at Harvard University, University of California Los Angeles, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, and the University of Hong Kong. After arriving at UIC, Ein received the Alfred P Sloan Fellowship and UIC’s University Scholar award. An editor for Communications in Algebra, Transaction, Geometria Dedicata, and Serdica Mathematical Journals, Ein has also served on several U.S. National Science Foundation and the Canadian National Science Foundation grant review committees and delivered dozens of invited papers at universities across the globe. He is currently serving his as the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science and he is on the LAS Dean’s Academic Priorities Task Force.





Susan R. Goldman (PhD, University of Pittsburgh) is Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Education and Co-Director of the UIC Center for the Study of Learning, Instruction, and Teacher Development. She is a member of the Cognitive Division in Psychology and of the Language, Literacy, and Culture and Educational Psychology programs in the College of Education. Goldman’s interests are in learning and assessment in subject matter domains such as literacy, mathematics, history, and science and roles for technologies in supporting assessment, instruction, and learning. Current work includes research on a web-based diagnostic reading assessment system, learning from multiple information sources, and use of virtual agent systems to support language development in kindergarten and first grade children from both English and Spanish language backgrounds. Past accomplishments include research and development of several technology-based environments for learning and assessment, including the mathematics problem solving series The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury, and The Little Planet Literacy Series.

James W. Pellegrino (PhD, University of Colorado) is Liberal Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor and UIC Distinguished Professor of Education.  He also serves as Co-director of the UIC interdisciplinary Learning Sciences Research Institute. Pellegrino's research and development interests focus on children's and adult's thinking and learning and the implications of cognitive research and theory for assessment and instructional practice. Much of his current work is focused on analyses of complex learning and instructional environments, including those incorporating powerful information technology tools, with the goal of better understanding the nature of student learning and the conditions that enhance deep understanding.  He has authored or co-authored over 250 books, chapters, journal articles, and reports in the areas of cognition, instruction and assessment. Pellegrino's knowledge of cognitive science, psychometrics, educational technology, instructional practice, and educational policy has led to appointment as head of several National Academy of Science/National Research Council study committees.  A lifetime National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences, he was recently elected to lifetime membership in the National Academy of Education.

Roger P. Weissberg (PhD, University of Rochester) is a professor of psychology and education, and the president of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), an international organization committed to making evidence-based social, emotional, and academic learning an essential part of preschool through high school education. For the past decade, Weissberg has been considered one of the country’s leading advocates for training scholars and practitioners about innovative ways to design, implement, and evaluate family, school, and community interventions.  Named one of the 2008 Daring Dozen by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, Weissberg has authored 200 publications focusing on preventive interventions with children and adolescents. He has written curricula on school-based programs to promote social competence and prevent problem behaviors including drug use, high-risk sexual behaviors, and aggression. The past president of the American Psychological Associations Society for Community Research and Action, he has also co-chaired an American Psychological Association Task Force on "Prevention: Promoting Strength, Resilience, and Health in Young People."

 

 

2007-08

 

Professor and Head of the Department of African-American Studies, Paul Tiyambe Zeleza (PhD, Dalhousie University) is the author of more than 20 books and countless articles and book chapters published in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and North America.  His scholarship focuses on African economic, social and intellectual history, as well as development studies, gender studies, and diaspora studies.  He is also a short story writer, novelist, and literary critic. Several of his books have won awards including the 1994 Noma Award for A Modern Economic History of Africa (1993), the 1998 Special Commendation of the Noma Award for Manufacturing African Studies and Crises (1997), the 2003 Choice Outstanding Academic Title and 2004 Honorable Mention of the Conover-Porter Award for Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century African History (2002). He has raised nearly five million dollars in research and institutional grants from various foundations and public agencies. Currently, he is working on a global project on African diasporas in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, funded by the Ford Foundation. In fall 2007, Zeleza was elected president of the African Studies Association for the 2008-09 term.

 

 

Photograph of Roger P. Weissberg by Kathryn Marchetti and courtesy of UIC News.

Photographs of Susan R. Goldman, James W. Pellegrino and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza by Mary Hanlon.