faculty and staff recognized for professional excellence and service
2025 chancellor’s, provost’s and major award recipients announced
faculty and staff have been recognized for their professional excellence and dedication to their work by the SUNY chancellor and the University’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
The SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence are bestowed throughout the system on individuals who have demonstrated superior professional achievement in categories including classified service, faculty service, professional service, librarianship, teaching and scholarship, and creative activities.
The University additionally acknowledges outstanding work through awards that recognize academic achievement, international education, community engagement, teaching and service to the greater community.
“My congratulations go out to each of those who were recognized with an award,” said President Harvey Stenger. “I am also immensely grateful that we call these individuals friends, colleagues and members of the community. Their passion, talent and commitment to their work are what make this University such a special place and allow us to accomplish our goals of serving students and making significant strides in research and scholarship.”
“These awards represent a major career milestone for the recipients,” said Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald Hall. “I am proud to see that they are being recognized by the University and SUNY system for their excellence. On behalf of the University’s students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends, I thank these individuals for their immense contributions to and for truly representing our mission and our values.”
Recipients will be honored at a dinner during the fall semester.
This year’s recipients are:
SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence
Excellence in Teaching
- Chou-Yu (Joey) Tsai, School of Management
- Ryan Vaughan, English, General Literature and Rhetoric
Excellence in Faculty Service
- Dmitry Ponomarev, School of Computing
Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities
- Nathanael Andrade, History
- Jiye (James) Fang, Chemistry
- Leslie Gates, Sociology
- Rolf Quam, Anthropology
Excellence in Librarianship
- Jeremy Dibbell, University Libraries
- Aleshia Huber, University Libraries
Excellence in Professional Service
- Vincent Brady, Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science
- Jean Dorak, Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences
- Megan Fegley, First-Year Research Immersion Program
- Michael Jacobson, Office of Strategic Research Initiatives
- Brendan McGovern, Geography
- Kelli Smith, Division of Student Affairs
- Ali Kemal Tanriverdi, Information Technology Services
Excellence in Classified Service
- Jason Andrews, Transportation and Parking Services
- Colleen McAvoy, Fleishman Career Center
- Stacie Trayling, Facilities Management
Chancellor’s Horizon Award for Faculty Research and Scholarship
- Yuan Wan, Biomedical Engineering
awards
Lois B. DeFleur Faculty Prize for Academic Achievement
- Luis Rocha, School of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering
- Deborah Taub, College of Community and Public Affairs
University Award for Excellence in International Education
- Sangwon Yoon, School of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering
President’s Award for Staff Excellence in Community Engagement
- Nicholas Zieziula, Division of Athletics
Provost’s Awards
Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring
- Tracy Brooks, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Kimberly Jaussi, School of Management
Outstanding Graduate Director
- David Werner, Psychology
Excellence in Community-Engaged Teaching
- Rachel Samiani, Romance Languages and Literatures
Excellence in Community-Engaged Scholarship
- Bryan Kirschen, Romance Languages and Literatures
Excellence in Interprofessional Education
- Rachel Klosko, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Council/Foundation Awards
- Peter Partell, Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science
- Kaiming Ye, Biomedical Engineering