April 3, 2017: University Senate Report
Office of the Provost
Faculty Awards Archive
The Office of the Provost is creating an archive of all awards and honors received
by Stony Brook faculty. Its purpose is to keep an accurate set of records on the distinguished
achievements of our faculty both for the sake of properly celebrating such accomplishments
and for the sake of posterity. New entries for the 2016- 2017 academic year should
be submitted by Friday, April 28. Please be advised that these honors may be featured
in public locations, such as the Provost’s Office website, at the discretion of the
Provost’s Office. For further questions, please contact Andrei Antonenko at andrei.antonenko@stonybrook.edu.
March Provost’s Lecture Series
"Embracing Diversity & Inclusion: Individual Action for Change"
The Provost’s Lecture Series was pleased to host Ajay Nair, Senior Vice President
and Dean of Campus Life at Emory University on Thursday, March 23, 2017. Dr. Nair is an accomplished
scholar and student affairs leader whose interests include immigration, race, and
ethnicity. His current book project explores the state of multiculturalism in higher
education today. His lecture, entitled “Embracing Diversity & Inclusion: Individual
Action for Change,” opened the 22nd Annual Leadership Symposium: Challenges in Higher
Education.
The topic focused on creating an inclusive campus community by empowering individual
action for change. The theme embraced a broader definition of diversity with a focus
on race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, ability, veteran status, socioeconomic
level, and sexual orientation. Nair was joined by Cheryl Chambers, Associate Dean
of Multicultural Affairs, and Robbye Kinkade, Director of the Responding to Equity,
Diversity and Inclusion (R.E.D.I.) Project.
For more information on the Leadership Symposium, please visit http://studentaffairs.stonybrook.edu/prodev/symposium/.
"Life and Evolution as Physics"
Adrian Bejan is J.A. Jones Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Duke
University. His research covers engineering science and applied physics: thermodynamics,
heat transfer, fluid mechanics, convection and porous media. More recently, he developed
the constructal law of organization and evolution in nature. Professor Bejan was ranked
in 2001 among the 100 most highly cited authors worldwide in engineering (all fields,
all countries) by the Institute for Scientific Information. He has received 18 honorary
doctorates from universities in 11 countries and is the author of 30 books and more
than 600 peer-referred articles.
Abstract: What is evolution and why does it exist in the geophysical, biological,
social and technological realms — in short, everywhere? Why is there a time direction
— a time arrow — in the changes we know are happening every moment and everywhere?
These are questions of physics, about everything. The physics answer is that nothing
lives, flows, moves and morphs unless it is driven by power and has freedom to change.
The power is destroyed by the flows, and the flow architectures evolve into configurations
that provide progressively greater access for movement. The universal natural tendency
to “evolve” was placed in physics by the constructal law (1996). Dr. Bejan’s lecture,
“Life and Evolution as Physics,” showed why this law is useful to us. We are the evolving
“human and machine species.” Evolution can be put to use in our lifetime in technology,
transportation, urban design, spreading and collecting, miniaturization, communications,
science, government and the unstoppable march to freedom, access, wealth and knowledge.
This lecture took place on Thursday, March 30, 2017. It was co-sponsored by the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
About the Provost’s Lecture Series
The Provost’s Lecture Series has become a popular vehicle for supporting distinguished
lecturevvisits to campus.
Faculty Participation in the May 2017 Commencement Ceremony and Regalia Rental Information
Faculty participation during commencement creates a meaningful atmosphere for our graduates and their families. All faculty are invited to participate in the academic ceremony and are asked to RSVP. Please note that any faculty interested in walking in the academic procession or serving as a marshal must wear academic attire. The Office of the Provost will pay for the rental of academic attire for all faculty in departments that report to the provostial area. Orders can be placed at http://www.herffjones.com/faculty. Faculty from reporting departments should use the following numbers:
- Customer Number: 31003853000
- Order Number: 3858349
Orders must be placed by April 15, 2017. Any order placed after this date are subject
to shipping charges and an expedited handling fee. Regalia that has been ordered online
by April 15 will be available for pick up between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM at Shop Red
West starting May 15.
URECA’s Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research & Creativity
URECA's Celebration of Undergraduate Research & Creativity is an annual event organized
by the URECA Program that showcases undergraduate research. It is open to all SBU
undergraduates conducting faculty-mentored research and creative projects. As the
only university-wide research symposium, this event provides a way for faculty and
students to see what's going on in their own and other departments. The success of
URECA's Research Celebration relies on the efforts of faculty who provide time, resources,
and encouragement to participate. Students who have done research off campus may also
present these projects at URECA.
A central part of the Celebration is a large all-day poster session where students
present their work to faculty, each other, and visitors. The Departments of English,
History, Psychology, and Writing & Rhetoric are holding concurrent symposia featuring
oral presentations. The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences will hold a senior
design conference featuring talks from
selected teams in each of the engineering departments. URECA also sponsors an undergraduate
art exhibition at the SAC Gallery.
This year’s event will take place on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 in SAC Ballroom A from
10:00 AM-4:00 PM. All are welcome to attend.
Inaugural Engineering-Driven Medicine Distinguished Lecture
Professor Subra Suresh, President of Carnegie Mellon University, will present “The
Study of Human Diseases at the Intersections of Engineering, Sciences, and Medicine”
on Thursday, April 20, at 11 am in the Charles B. Wang Center Theater. This is the
first of the engineering driven medicine distinguished lecture series presented by
Stony Brook’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and School of Medicine.
A distinguished engineer and scientist, Suresh is the first and only university president
to be elected to all three National Academies: the National Academy of Medicine (2013),
the National Academy of Sciences (2012), and the National Academy of Engineering (2002).
He is also an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow
of the National Academy of Inventors. He has been awarded 11 honorary doctorate degrees
from institutions in seven countries, and was awarded the Padma Shri, one of the highest
civilian honors, by the President of India in 2011.
This is an extraordinary opportunity to hear from an outstanding scholar in convergence science and gain a greater understanding of the ever-evolving connections between engineering and medicine.