VINSE Director Sharon Weiss led the annual VINSE Fall Faculty Celebration yesterday afternoon, honoring our faculty’s highest achievements of the year.
Sandra Rosenthal received this year’s Distinguished Service Award, for her leadership and dedication to advancing the missions of VINSE. Sandy served as VINSE Director for 12 years, stepping down in June.
During Rosenthal’s tenure as director, VINSE has grown from 24 to 55 faculty, who have accrued more than $250 million in funding for nanoscience research. Rosenthal led the expansion of the graduate interdisciplinary materials science program; established the undergraduate minor in nanoscience; created an inclusive, immersive undergraduate Tech Crew experience; and championed the planning and implementation of the new $20 million VINSE core facilities in the Engineering and Science Building.
Craig Duvall was promoted to full Professor this year.
High Impact Paper Awards
Fifth place – Rizia Bardhan
Fourth place – Peter Cummings
Third place – Shihong Lin
Second place – Cary Pint & Bridget Rogers
First place – Sokrates Pantelides
Paper Honorable Mentions
Jason Valentine,Tim Hanusa, Shihong Lin, Alice Leach, Janet Macdonald, & Rizia Bardhan.
Weiss touched on the exciting new goals for the institute, such as the new pilot funding initiative, the addition of a partner user facility ‘Cryo-Electron Microscopy’, and student immersion opportunities.