HONORS AND AWARDS the way light beams can be shaped and redirected through interactions with nonlinear materials. His work as an applied mathematician has been described by his peers as “crucial to the development of all-optical computing systems for image processing and parallel processing problems.”
Dr. Jianke Yang, the new Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, has been named University Distinguished Professor (UDP)—the highest academic honor that UVM can bestow upon a member of the faculty. Holders of this title are recognized as not only having achieved international eminence within their respective fields of study but for the truly transformative nature of their contributions to the advancement of knowledge. These faculty members are considered top scholars who have excelled in their disciplines. Professor Yang received his Ph.D. from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994 and has been a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics since 1994. He was selected as University Scholar in 2017, appointed as the Williams Professor of Mathematics in 2019, and elected as Fellow of the Optical Society of America in 2020. Dr. Yang is a pioneer in the study of nonlinear optics in complex media waves, nonlinear photonics and parity-time optics. He has contributed to our understanding of
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stem cells, Dr. Bongard and his coauthors designed and evolved in silico structures capable of locomotion, object manipulation, object transport, and collective behavior. Civil and Environmental Professor Eric Hernandez was named Presidentelect for the New England chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI). Join us in congratulating Eric and read more about the organization’s work at eeri.org Peter Dodds was elected to the 2021 Fellows of the Network Science Society at the Netsci Conference for “foundational contributions to both the theoretical and experimental study of networks, and especially the growth, structure, and spread of information in social networks, both on- and offline.”
Dr. Josh Bongard was awarded the Cozzarelli Prize in Engineering and Applied Sciences. This international distinction is awarded annually to six research teams whose PNAS articles have made outstanding contributions to their fields. Using AI, a cell-based construction kit, and frog
Lisa Dion has been awarded the Athena Young Professional Award from the Vermont Central Chamber of Commerce. Juniper Lovato and Laurent Hebert-Dufresne are recipients of 2021 International Society for Artificial Life Exceptional Service awards.
KC Williams , pictured here with Maria Del Sol Nava and Max Cordes Galbraith at the inaugural Leadership Retreat for CEMS 50 mentors and student club leaders, has taken on the role of Assistant Dean for Equity, Belonging, and Student Engagement and as a Lecturer, College of Education and Social Services.
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