Dr. Thomas Szyperski, director of the UB High-Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility and professor in the Department of Chemistry, has been named a UB Distinguished Professor.
The UB Distinguished Professor Award recognizes its most successful distinguished scholars and their achievements. Szyperski currently holds joint positions in the departments of Structural Biology and Biochemistry and occupies the status of adjunct senior researcher at the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute.
Szyperski's chemistry career started in high school and was solidified by his performance in the International Chemistry Olympiad competition.
"I think, in general, natural science and engineering is intellectually very stimulating," Szyperski said. "It is known to the world that you can think about things which are not necessarily common sense and you can basically widen your horizon of how you look at things."
After completing his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry in Technical University of Munich, Szyperski received his doctorate in biophysics at ETH Zürich in Switzerland. Szyperski began working in the UB Department of Chemistry in 1998.
"I enjoy being at UB [because] it's a very nice place, in particular, the chemistry department," Szyperski said. "It is a very nice department and I'm very thankful to have the chair members that we have in the chemistry department. They do a great job and that makes a big difference."
Szyperski is internationally known for his development of techniques in applying multi-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to analyze protein structures. The techniques that he has developed now allow scientists to rapidly and more precisely obtain high-dimensional spectral data.
While at UB, Szyperski has received nearly $8 million in grant funding, including awards from The National Science Foundation and The National Institutes of Health, for his research. Additionally, Szyperski is a co-recipient of the Gunther Laukien Prize, an acknowledgment of the best NMR spectroscopist under the age of 40, and has been named one of the "Scientific American 50" for his scholarly work.
Szyperski, who earned the 2007 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, has written more than 120 publications that have appeared in prestigious journals. His research has also led to six issued U.S. patents and several pending patents.
"[I am] happy to hear about being named UB Distinguished Professor," Szyperski said. "It's certainly an honor."
The Office of Provost created the UB Distinguished Professor designation in 2002 to recognize full professors of at least five years who have achieved distinction and leadership in their designated fields. The award is open to faculty members who have received national or international recognition within their field.
"[For] many faculty it means a great deal to them that their own university has an award that recognizes their achievements," said Lucinda Finley, Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs. "UB thought it would be a good idea to have an award [by which] some of its most successful distinguished scholars on the faculty would get recognized."
The SUNY system has separate awards for distinguished teaching and distinguished service. Nominations for the recognition are reviewed and awarded by different committees of professors throughout the SUNY system.
Szyperski has come a long way since his Chemistry Olympiad days and his department acknowledges his success in every way.
"He's a very valued faculty member in our department," said Luis Colón, professor and chairman of the chemistry department. "This is a very well deserved distinction for him, and I am glad that our university has recognized [Szyperski's work] with this excellent award of being UB Distinguished Professor."
