Faculty, Student & Staff Accolades

Faculty Accolades

Rensselaer’s faculty members are a collaborative community working in an atmosphere of increasing interdisciplinarity. They take pride in their dedication to teaching — demonstrating a #commitment to excellence that always has been a hallmark of Rensselaer’s teacher-scholars.

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow
Michael Shur 2005
Gwo-Ching Wang 2006
Toh-Ming Lu 2007
Shawn-Yu Lin 2012

American Physical Society (APS) Fellow
Toh-Ming Lu 1994
Mike Shur 1995
Gwo-Ching Wang 1996
Shawn-Yu Lin 2002
Heidi Jo Newberg 2013
Humberto Terrones 2016

American Vacuum Society (AVS) Fellow
Toh-Ming Lu 1995
Gwo-Ching Wang 1997

David M. Darrin Counseling Award
Peter Persans 2001

Toh-Ming Lu 2017

Department of Energy Outstanding Junior Investigator Award
Joel Giedt 2009

Electrochemical Society Fellow

Michael Shur 2004

Gruber Cosmology Prize
Heidi Newberg 2007

Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists
Michael Shur 2002

Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow
Michael Shur 1989

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Leon K. Kirchmayer Graduate Teaching Award
Michael Shur 2006

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Nanotechnology Council Pioneer Award in Nanotechnology
Shawn-Yu Lin 2016

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Sensors Council Technical Achievement Award
Michael Shur 2008

Institution of Engineering and Technology Fellow
Michael Shur 2007

Institute of Physics Fellow (IOP)

Michael Shur 2021

James M. Tien '66 Early Career Award
Joel Giedt 2014

Jerome Fischbach Travel Grant
John Schroeder 2007

Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Foreign Member
Michael Shur 2009

Materials Research Society Fellow

Toh-Ming Lu 2008

Michael Shur 2009

Gwo-Ching Wang 2016

Materials Research Society Medal Award

Toh-Ming Lu 2004

National Science Foundation CAREER Award
Esther A. Wertz 2020

Trevor David Rhone 2021

Nottingham Prize Winner, 38th Annual Conference on Physical Electronics
Gwo-Ching Wang 1978

Optical Society of America (OSA) Fellow

Shawn-Yu Lin 2002

Christian Wetzel 2020

Rensselaer Early Career Award
Toh-Ming Lu 1986
Gwo-Ching Wang 1988
Wayne Roberge 1991
Heidi Newberg 2003

Rensselaer Alumni Association Teaching Award

Moussa N'Gom, 2023

Wayne Roberge 2004

Royal Astronomical Society Fellow
Douglas Whittet

School of Science Award: Outstanding Research

Moussa N'Gom 2024

Trevor Rhone 2024

Ethan Brown 2019

School of Science Awards: Outstanding Service
Peter Persans 2007

School of Science Awards: Outstanding Teaching

Moussa N'Gom 2023

Peter Persans 2009

Charles Martin 2019

J. Darryl Michael 2020

Senior Member Optical Society of America (OSA)
Ingrid Wilke 2012

SRC (Semiconductor Research Corporation) Faculty Leadership Award
Toh-Ming Lu 2005

Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher
Heidi Newberg 2014

Trustees' Outstanding Teacher Award
Peter Persans 2009

William H. Wiley Distinguished Faculty Award
Toh-Ming Lu 2002
Gwo-Ching Wang 2006
Shengbai Zhang 2016

World Innovation Foundation Fellow
Michael Shur 2004

Student Accolades

Students at Rensselaer are recognized for their creativity, accomplishments, discoveries, and leadership.

Please see the Rensselaer Catalog (“Academic Information and Regulations”) for award descriptions.

Class of 1902 Research Prize

2024 Dylan Sheils

2023 Elijah Gruszecki

2019 Kyle Rego

2018 Ziyi Lin

2017 Alan N. Pearl

2016 Thomas Merkh

2014 Robert Spivey, III

2013 Charles Martin

2010 Chris Lehnen

2009 Matthew Harrigan

Coherent Award

2010 Jingle Liu, Karen Ho

2008 Xiaofei Lu, Gurpreet Kaur

2006 Tao Yuan, Nick Karpowicz

2005 Haibo Liu, Xu Xie

Edmond Brown Prize

2024 Kai Wagoner-Oshima

2023 Cheng Ma

2022 Mayada Fadel

2021 Michael Lamparski

2020 Natayla Sheremetyeva

2019 Anthony Yoshimura

2018 Han Wang

2017 Andrew Cupo

Founders Award of Excellence

2022 Tom Donlon, Lindsey Gilson, Jacob Harris, Amber Migliore, Shreyas Seethalla, Dylan Shiels

2019 JiaZhao Lin, William Marshall, Davis Olmsted, Jake T. Orr, Jarrett A. Rosenberg

2018 Drake A. Niedzielski, Kyle A. Rego

2017 Peter A. Craig, George V. Dowhan, Mallory E. Gaspard, Isabella G. Peck, Vera M. Titze

2016 Daniel Alexander, Hunter Belanger, James Flamino, Maxwell Jenquin, William Meese, Madison Wyatt

2014 Maia M. Marchetti, Thomas A. Merkh, Emily C. Wislowski 

2012 Ted Berger, Amy Lovell, Charles Martin, Robert Spivey, Christine Umbright 

2011 Thomas O’Connor

2009 Daniel Elton, Joseph Paki, Jingle Liu, Xiaofei Lu, Ya Ou

2008 Churamani Gaire, I-Chen Ho, Kai Liu, Qiming Lu

Fulbright U.S. Student Program Award
2017 Emily Kosmaczewski

G. Howard Carragan Award

2024 Siddhi Patel

2023 Dylan I. Shiels

2022 Autumn Guffey

2021 James Drake 

2020 Sophia Hollick

2019 Kyle Rego

2018 Peter Craig

2017 Zachary J. Harris

2016 Andrew Horning

2015 Jacob Leedom, Ryan McAvoy

2014 Christina Caragine, Robert Spivey, III 

2013 Amy Lovell

2012 Thomas O’Connor

2011 Kevin Pedro

2010 Eric Dzienkowski

2009 Ryan Badeau, Marc Miskin

Hillard B. Huntington Award

2024 Tianhong Wang

2023 Aidan F. Simpson, Deric T. Jones

2022 Leaf Swordy

2021 Omar Malik

2020 Thomas Donlon

2019 Andrew Cupo

2017 Yu Xiang

2016 Panagiotis Karampourniotis

2015 Anqing Liu

2014 Liangbo Liang 

2013 Xing Yan

2012 Christoph Stark, Ming He

2011 Benjamin Willett

2010 Jingle Liu

2009 Nicholas Karpowicz

2008 Philip Shemella

J. Erik Jonsson Prize

2019 Kyle Rego

2015 Ryan McAvoy
2005 Joseph Yasi
2004 Samuel Eddinger
 

J. Lawrence and Gertrude Katz Award

2024 Julia Ryshkewitch

2023 Amber Migliore

2022 Addison Olmsted

2021 Matthew Pharr

2020 Robert Gryncewicz

2019 Drake Niedzielski

2017 Madison Wyatt

2016 Maia Marchetti

2015 Josue San Emeterio

Karen and Lester Gerhardt Prize

2011 Jingle Liu

2009 Nicholas Karpowicz

Nadia Trinkala Service Award

2024 Katie Gray

2023 Grace E. Tytus

2022 Brandon Klein

2021 Nigel DaSilva

2020 Emily Crook, Sophia Cahillane

2019 Mallory Gaspard

2018 Jennifer Freedberg

2017 Rachel Maizel

2016 Victoria Butler

2015 Eric Deutsch

2014 Kathleen Grabowski

2013 Erin Hansen

2012 Andrew McAllister

New York Society for Applied Spectroscopy (NYSAS)

2019 Philip Charles

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Recipients:

2024:  Scott Schwartz, B.S. in Physics at RPI, 2023, attending graduate school at California Institute of Technology

Paul S. Ho ’65 Graduate Prize in Physics

2024 Leaf Swordy

2023 Thomas J. Donlon

2022 Cheng Ma

2021 Mayada Fadel

2020 Poomirat Nawarat

2019 Yu Xiang

2018 Aaron Littlejohn

2017 Jake A. Weiss

2016 Brian Frey

2015 Ryan Krafnick

Physics Mentorship Award

2021 Zuzanna Jedlinska

2020 Nicholas Pittman

2019 Isabelle Peck

2018 William Meese

Richard Madey Prize

2024 Julia Ryshkewitch

2023 Kyle A. Gable

2016 George V. Dowhan, Kyle A. Rego

2015 Andrew J. Horning

2014 Jacob Leedom, Ryan McAvoy 

2013 Christina Caragine

2011 Ryan Krafnick

2010 Joseph Paki

2009 Christopher Lehnen

2008 Eric Dzienkowski, Timothy Kelley

Robert Resnick Academic Prize

2024 Kyle Gable

2023 Julia P. Ryshkewitch

2022 Walter Cook

2021 Jarrett Rosenberg

2020 Nicole Taylor

2019 JiaZhao Lin

2018 Vera Titze

2017 William "Joe" Meese

2016 Thomas Merkh

2015 Lydia Nevin 

2014 (Spring) Ryan McAvoy, Jacob Leedom 

2012 David Galehouse, Michael Pinkert

2011 Evan Weinberg

2009 Raymond Menzel, Joseph Paki

2008 Ryan Badeau

Robert Resnick Physics Mentoring Award

2024 Shreyas Seethalla

2023 Sonya J. Woo, Grace E. Tytus

2022 Jack Lamb, Rom Simovitch

Walter Eppenstein Award

2024 Russell Berger, Weichang Lin

2023 Kirsten D. McMichael, Finn O. Buldt

2022 Alexander Kaiser, Neha Neha

2021Thomas Donlon, Joshua Quinton

2020 Zachary Ward

2019 Hunter Belanger

2018 Zachary Hallenbeck

2017 Colin Daniels

2016 Anthony Yoshimura

2015 Georges Jaar, Anthony Post

2014 Jeffery Thompson

2013 Liang Zhao

2012 Jonathan Owens

2011 Maximilian Katz

2010 Albert Dearden

2009 Paul Mayeur

2008 Anthony Villano

Staff Accolades

The School of Science recognize staff for their excellence in service.

School of Science Awards: Outstanding Staff

Joan Perras 2007, 2023

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