Three UB professors received the SUNY Chancellor's Research Recognition Award in acknowledgement of high quality research endeavors performed while employed by the university.
Maurizio Trevisan, interim dean of the School of Health Related Professions; Aidong Zhang, professor of computer science and engineering and adjunct assistant professor of electrical engineering; and Huw Davies, professor of chemistry, were among 38 honorees from the SUNY system to receive the award last Thursday night in Albany.
"I think (the award) is great," said UB President William R. Greiner. "This is just an example of the kind of people that we have here at UB."
According to Provost Elizabeth Capaldi, this is the second year SUNY Chancellor Robert King has presented the awards to faculty in the field of science and medicine.
Two UB professors were honored with the award last year.
"I think that it is wonderful recognition for a superb faculty," Capaldi said. "It shows that the chancellor, as well as the SUNY system, values research."
According to Trevisan, who has been a part of UB's faculty since 1985, his research focuses on the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Through observing how the disease is dispersed in society, Trevisan is seeking to determine what people can do on a social level to prevent such a "major cause of death and disability."
Trevisan, who has been conducting research in the field of cardiovascular disease since 1975, said he received the award as "an overall reflection of research on major conditions that cause death and disability in our society" rather than acknowledgement for a specific project.
The professor said he felt privileged to be among the winners and enjoyed meeting the other winners from UB as well as other schools.
"We are so concerned with day-to-day life that we forget that we are part of a much larger family in the SUNY system," said Trevisan.
Trevisan said he appreciated the recognition, but he doesn't want to lose sight of the bigger picture.
"I do research not to get recognized, but because I think that it is an important and challenging task," he said.
Zhang, who has been a faculty member since 1994, said she has been involved in numerous research projects, including "content-based image retrieval, distributed database systems, multimedia database systems, digital libraries and data mining with applications to bioinformatics, engineering, and geographic information systems."
Zhang said she has received multimillion dollar funding on a national level for projects such as research infrastructure, information technology research, digital government and digital libraries.
Although the Chancellor's award does not include grant money, Zhang said she believes that winning the award will increase her chances of receiving grants.
"I think that the award would encourage us to achieve better in our research and help us to achieve better," said Zhang.
Davies was out of town and could not be reached by The Spectrum for comment.
Capaldi said exploration through research has always been a goal at UB and the recognition received by the professors could serve as added encouragement for other faculty members.
According to Greiner, the awards reflect the quality of the research being done at UB.
"The university is what is referred to as a research intensive university, and research has always been part of our mission," Greiner said. "We have had a good deal of growth in funded research in the past few years, and a good deal of that reflects the kind of faculty that we have."
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
