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| University leadership and Distinguished University Professors in front of the new faculty display in the Waterman Building at the University of Vermont. Pictured from left are President Tom Sullivan; Mark T. Nelson, chairman and University Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology; Wolfgang Mieder, University Distinguished Professor of German and Folklore; Susan S. Wallace, University Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics; Brooke T. Mossman, University Distinguished Professor of Pathology; Ralph Budd, University Distinguished Professor and director of the Vermont Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases; Judith L. Van Houten, George H. Perkins Professor of Biology and University Distinguished Professor; and Provost David Rosowsky. |
President Tom Sullivan and Provost David Rosowsky unveiled a new permanent display on Tuesday afternoon showcasing the university’s most accomplished faculty. The display is located on the third floor of the Waterman Building near the registrar’s office.
The display highlights faculty who have been named University Distinguished Professors and lists all of UVM’s endowed professors and Kroepsch-Maurice winners.
More than 35 people attended the dedication, including many of the University Distinguished Professors who were being honored.
“We are here today to celebrate the talent of our faculty,” Sullivan said in opening remarks. “The teacher-scholar model has a long history at UVM and, over the years, a great many students have learned from faculty who are not only engaging teachers, but distinguished scholars, researchers and creative artists, as well. Today we’re celebrating the most accomplished of these teachers-scholars, acknowledging both their contribution to the discovery and the creation of new knowledge and the deep connections they have made with their students. The contributions and accomplishments of our faculty have a direct effects on our students' success."
Rosowsky acknowledged the key role associate provost Jim Vigoreaux played in conceiving of and creating the display, which was strategically located in a hallway in the Waterman Building with a high volume of foot traffic, he added. “This is a building that welcomes the entire university. It has become a place where we celebrate and recognize excellence,” he said, noting that other displays celebrating University Scholars and UVM staff achievement have recently been mounted in the same Waterman hallway. “It is becoming a very important point for the university, where we all come together and walk through these halls and, hopefully, have occasion to look up and realize that there are a lot of really talented people giving an enormous amount to the university.”
The rank of University Distinguished Professor is the highest academic honor that the University of Vermont 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.