University Convocation Officially Welcomes Class of 2023, Recognizes Faculty Excellence
“I encourage you to break free from any preconceived notion that someone can limit your potential,” said Elaine Gomez ’14, who was the keynote speaker at University Convocation Sept. 11, 2019. In her address, Gomez said that “My advice is to learn with the intention to safeguard."
Gomez graduated summa cum laude from NJIT’s Albert Dorman Honors College in 2014 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. A strong interest in catalysis and CO2 emission reduction led Gomez to pursue her doctorate (’19) with adviser Dr. Jingguang G. Chen, the Thayer Lindsley Professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University. Among her achievements, Gomez is a Gates Millennium Scholar, ACS Scholar, and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Gomez was the recipient of the 2010 Madame Mau Outstanding Female Engineering Student Award and was recently featured as one of NJIT’s Pioneering Women in Chemical Engineering. She currently is an Advanced Catalysis Researcher at ExxonMobil’s Corporate Strategic Research division.
NJIT President Joel S. Bloom shared his thoughts and advice with members of the Class of 2023, the largest freshman class in the university’s history with 1,385 students from 26 states and 31 countries.
“We welcome you to our close-knit community,” he said. “You are in great company. I invite you to make the most of it. Please keep in mind that it is up to you to make a commitment, help people, do service and treat each other with respect.”
In his address, Bloom cited the university's continued upward trajectory, most recently evidenced by its joining U.S. News and World Report's top 100 National Universities for 2020.
Each year at Convocation, the university honors NJIT faculty and staff members who have excelled as teachers, scholars and researchers.
MengChu Zhou, distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering, is this year’s recipient of the Board of Overseers Excellence in Research Prize and Medal, which recognizes sustained contributions that have enhanced the reputation of NJIT. Zhou will formally receive the prize and medal at a ceremony Oct. 3, 2019, celebrating his career.
The Excellence in Research Awards for the 2018-2019 academic year were presented to Neil Maher (College of Science and Liberal Arts); Andrzej Zarzycki (J. Robert and Barbara A. Hillier College of Architecture and Design); Raja Roy (Martin Tuchman School of Management); Shawn Chester (Newark College of Engineering); and Xinyue Ye (Ying Wu College of Computing).
The Constance A. Murray Diversity Award was presented to Eliza Michalopoulou, professor of mathematical sciences. For more than a quarter of a century, while building a national reputation as a researcher in ocean acoustics and signal detection and estimation, Dr. Michalopoulou has consistently taken time to support other women faculty, students, and staff across the university community, acting as a role model, mentor and advocate.
The Excellence in Teaching Awards recognize members of the instructional staff for outstanding accomplishments in teaching. Receiving this award were: Megan O’Neill (Humanities) for undergraduate instruction, lower division; Simon Garnier (Biological Sciences) for undergraduate instruction, upper division; Xiaobo Li (Biomedical Engineering) for graduate instruction; Callie Crawford (Biology) for instruction by a teaching assistant; Lucas Dorazio (Chemical and Materials Engineering) for instruction by an adjunct professor; J. Britt Holbrook (Humanities) for excellence in innovative teaching; Jose Casal (Martin Tuchman School of Management) for upper division undergraduate or graduate instruction by university lecturers, senior university lecturers and/or program directors; Caroline DeVan (Biology) for lower division instruction by a university lecturer; and Michael Kehoe (J. Robert and Barbara A. Hillier College of Architecture and Design) for outstanding contributions to teaching at NJIT by non-instructional staff.
Maurie Cohen (Humanities) and Neil Maher (History) were named Master Teachers.
Two recent graduates were lauded for their high-level academic achievement and multi-faceted engagement on campus and in national organizations with the Presidential Leadership Award. The awards were presented to Jacob Ponulak ’19 (Undergraduate Award) and Suchandra Das ’13,’20 (Graduate Award).
Promoted to Senior University Lecturer were: Miriam Ascarelli (Humanities); Theresa Hunt (Humanities); Balraj Subra Mani (Mechanical and Industrial Engineering); Padma Natarajan (Mathematical Sciences); Sahidur Rahman (Engineering Technology); and Marc Sequeira (Informatics).
Shawn Chester (Mechanical and Industrial Engineering); Eon Soo Lee (Mechanical and Industrial Engineering); and Joyoung Lee (Civil and Environmental Engineering) were promoted to the rank of associate professor with tenure.
Bin Chen (Physics) was promoted to the rank of associate professor.
Reza Curtmola (Computer Science); Anthony Schuman (J. Robert and Barbara A. Hillier College of Architecture and Design); Zhi Wei (Computer Science); and Chase Wu (Computer Science) were promoted to the rank of professor.
Burt Kimmelman (Humanities); Lou Kondic (Mathematical Sciences); and Leonid Tsybeskov (Electrical and Computer Engineering) were promoted to the rank of distinguished professor.