Named Chairs, Professorships, Faculty Fellowships, and Distinguished Professors
Named Chairs and Professorships
Armstrong Professional Development Professorship
To encourage the development of young faculty who demonstrate substantial achievement and great promise in teaching and their area of research.
Established by John and Elizabeth Armstrong, longtime donors and devoted friends of UMass Amherst.
Colin Gleason
Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research expertise in translating process based hydrology and geochemistry to global scales through extensive Arctic fieldwork, satellite data processing, and geomorphically informed modelling and data assimilation.
Previously held by: Shelly Peyton, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering; Erin Baker, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; David McLaughlin, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Armstrong/Siadat Endowed Professorship in Materials Science & Engineering
To establish and support research programs in the field of materials science and engineering.
Established through gifts from John and Elizabeth Armstrong, and Barry and Afsaneh Siadat.
Nianqiang (Nick) Wu
Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Research expertise in nanostructured materials science.
Wu studies biosensing and photodynamic therapy (precision medicine); photocatalysts and photoelectrochemical cells for environmental and energy sustainability; and electrochemical energy storage.
William W. Boyer Professorship
To help retain outstanding faculty in civil and environmental engineering who have made significant contributions to the academic reputation of the College of Engineering and to the performance of its students.
Established by Edward Gray '73 with deep appreciation for Professor Boyer's instruction and guidance. William W. Boyer was a central figure in the early development of the UMass Amherst Transportation Program in the 1950s and 1960s.
Michael Knodler
Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Affairs, College of Engineering
Director, University of Massachusetts Transportation Center
Research expertise in transportation safety, operations, design, and education.
Dev and Linda Gupta Professorship
To support new areas of inquiry and encourage risk-taking and entrepreneurial pursuits in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Guangyu Xu
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research expertise in the area of signal processing and biomedical imaging.
The revolutionary research in Xu’s Integrated Nanobiotechnology Laboratory aims to build integrated molecule detection and cell imaging tools to study biological sciences and offer new biomedical applications.
Ronnie & Eugene M. Isenberg Endowed Distinguished Professorship in Engineering
To enhance teaching and research between the fields of engineering and business.
Sundar Krishnamurty
Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Research expertise in medical device design; engineering design; design optimization and additive manufacturing
Krishnamurty directs the Center for e-Design, an NSF-supported Industry/University Cooperative Research Center focused on intelligent e-design and product realization. Krishnamurty is also the associate director of the Center for Personalized Health Monitoring, which accelerates the development and commercialization of low-cost, multi-function, wearable, wireless sensor systems for personalized health care and biometric monitoring.
Previously held by: Michael F. Malone, Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement and Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering.
Paros Professor of Geophysical Sensing Systems
Supports an outstanding faculty member in geophysical sensing systems—systems that monitor and analyze the physical properties and processes of the earth, its atmosphere, and surrounding space environment.
Established with a gift from Jerome (1960) and Linda Paros.
Michael Zink
Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Co-Director, Paros Center for Atmospheric Research (PCAR)
Research expertise in the fields of sensor and distribution networks for high bandwidth data, with research interests that include wide-area multimedia distribution for wired and wireless environments, cyber physical systems, cloud computing, and future internet architecture.
Endowed Chair in Renewable Energy
To attract a preeminent scholar in the field to provide leadership in positioning both the university and the Commonwealth to take advantage of opportunities in emerging areas of renewable energy. Established by the state Department of Energy Resources (DOER).
Matthew Lackner
Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Director, Wind Energy Center
Director, ELEVATE
Research expertise in the area of offshore wind energy, with a particular focus on the aerodynamics and structural control of floating offshore wind turbines.
Previously held by: Krish Thiagarajan Sharman, Emeritus Chair in Renewable Energy, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
UMass Distinguished Professors
Awarded to full professors who have conducted outstanding research, teaching, and/or public service contributions that are widely recognized; an extraordinary level of productivity and impact in his/her field of study that goes well beyond the existing high expectations for full professors on campus; a level of productivity and impact that has been demonstrated for an extended period of time; pre-eminence in his/her field of study; recognition by professional organizations for outstanding contributions to the field (e.g., receipt of national awards); and other qualities exhibiting excellence.
Timothy Anderson
Chemical Engineering
Erin Baker
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Lixin Gao
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Weibo Gong
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Michael Malone
Chemical Engineering
Peter Monson
Chemical Engineering [Emeritus]
S. Thai Thayumanavan
Biomedical Engineering
H. Henning Winter
Chemical Engineering
Provost Professors
The title of "Provost Professor" recognizes exceptional achievement in research or creative activity, and in teaching. This campus-level faculty honorific is designated for tenure-system faculty who hold the rank of professor and are not already in a named or distinguished professorship. This title is permanent, except if a new and permanent titled professorship is awarded (such as Distinguished Professor).
Casey Brown
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Shelly Peyton
Chemical Engineering
Faculty Fellows - Endowed Faculty Fellowships
Marvin and Eva Schlanger Faculty Fellow in Chemical Engineering
Helps fuel research discoveries and ensures that the next generation of students will continue to benefit from exceptional teaching and mentorship provided by rising star faculty.
Lauren Andrews
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Research expertise in the area of synthetic biology and the development of programmable microbes and microbial communities using computational and high-throughput experimental approaches.
Edward S. Price Faculty Fellow in Chemical Engineering
To recruit new faculty or retain outstanding current faculty in the Department of Chemical Engineering.
Wei Fan
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Research focuses on the rational synthesis of nanoporous materials for biorefinery and drug delivery.
Gary R. Lapidus Faculty Fellow
Supports a faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering for a renewable five-year term, providing resources for summer stipends, other research and teaching expenses, and professional travel.
Jessica Schiffman
Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Research focuses on synthesizing materials using green chemistry and bioinspiration; and establishing, understanding, and controlling microbial interactions with materials. She is currently developing “living materials” that feature viable microorganisms and wearable electronic textiles.
Faculty Fellows - University Fellowships
STRIDE Faculty Fellows 2023/24
Shelly Peyton
Provost Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Jay Taneja
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Sloan Faculty Fellows 2023/24
Lauren Andrews
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Christian Guzman
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Shannon Roberts
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
PIT@UMASS Faculty Fellowships 2023
Jessica Boakye
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Muge Capan
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Song Gao
Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Chaitra Gopalappa
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Shannon Roberts
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
ADVANCE Faculty Fellows 2023-24
Stacyann Bailey
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Lauren Andrews
Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering
Emily Kumpel
Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Tingyi Liu
Assistant Professor, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Manning/IALS Innovation Fellows 2023
Neil Forbes
Professor, Chemical Engineering
Govind Srimathveeravalli
Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Family Research Scholars 2023-2024
Jungwoo Lee
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering
TIDE Ambassadors Faculty Fellows 2023-24
Muge Capan
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Lilly Fellows 2023-24
Omar Abdelrahman
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Public Engagement Project Fellows 2024
Shannon Roberts
Associate Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Song Gao
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering