Four School of Engineering professors have been promoted to the rank of University of New Mexico distinguished professor. Distinguished professors are individuals who have demonstrated outstanding achievements and are nationally and internationally renowned as scholars.
Interim Provost Viola Florez said, "The rank of Distinguished Professor is the highest faculty rank at the university. It is reserved for a very small number of individuals who have made major scholarly contributions to their fields. This year we had a very strong group of nominees, and we are proud of the accomplishments of each of them. The new awardees join a very select group of our faculty."
C. Jeffrey Brinker-- 2008-2009 inductee
7/24/08 -- C. Jeffrey Brinker, professor of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, joined the UNM faculty in 1999, but his impact on UNM students and the department goes back to the inception of the Center for Microengineered Materials, around 1987. He helped develop the Nanoscience and Microsystems degree program at UNM.
Brinker has brought in more than $7.9 million in extramural funding to UNM where he was listed as principal or co-principal investigator. He has received some of the highest honors in the materials research field and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Brinker is internationally acclaimed for his book on Sol-Gel Synthesis and for his many publications on materials synthesis.
Deepak Kapur -- 2007-2008 inductee
8/23/07 -- Computer Science Professor Deepak Kapur's primary interests are in the areas of formal methods, automated deduction, algebraic and geometric reasoning and their applications. Kapur earned his Ph.D. in computer science at MIT in 1980. He has been on the UNM faculty since 1999.
Kapur has edited three books and published more than 150 journal papers, book chapters and conference proceedings, many of which appeared in top journals. According to CiteSeer scientific citation index, Kapur is in the top two percent of computer science researchers.
He has attracted more than $2 million in funding to UNM, much of it from the NSF. His theoretical work has led to the development of software systems, including Rewrite Rule Laboratory, which is especially well known and regarded.
Kapur initiated a program with the Albuquerque Public School's Career Enrichment Center where he mentored high school students, some of whom went on to compete at regional, state and international science fairs. He has also pushed nomination of UNM's best undergraduates for Computing Research Association's Outstanding Undergraduate Awards.
Kapur serves on the executive boards of both the Computer Science Research Institute at Sandia and the Los Alamos Computer Science Institute at LANL.
Abhaya Datye -- 2007-2008 inductee
8/23/07 -- Professor in the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering in the School of Engineering, Datye has been at UNM for more than 22 years during which he has had a major impact on both the graduate and undergraduate programs in chemical engineering. He has run the Center for Micro-Engineered Materials for 23 years and turned it into an NSF/industry supported hub for nano-materials research. He is also a key player in creating and managing the statewide NSF EPSCoR program in nano-materials.
Datye earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 1984 from the University of Michigan.
Steven Brueck -- 2006-2007 inductee
6/6/06 -- Steven Brueck, electrical and computer engineering, physics, and director of the Center for High Technology Materials, is the author of 350 articles. He is among UNM’s leading patent holders, with 30 to his name. CHTM, under Brueck’s direction for two decades, has grown to an internationally recognized center for nanoscience, optoelectronics and microelectronics research. Brueck earned both masters and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from MIT, is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and is an Outstanding Researcher in the School of Engineering.