SOE faculty members honored for excellence

Tufts University takes pride in cultivating an environment with excellent teaching, top-tier research and dedication to service. Each year Tufts recognizes outstanding faculty members in the School of Engineering and the School of Arts and Sciences in these three categories, and this year, five School of Engineering faculty members were honored with awards.

Henry and Madeline Fischer Award: Associate Professor Ayse Asatekin

The Henry and Madeline Fischer Award goes to a School of Engineering faculty member who has demonstrated teaching excellence, inspired and motivated students to rise to their best, and left them a lasting and gratifying memory of a special teacher and a profound intellectual experience. Engineering seniors chose Associate Professor Ayse Asatekin of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering for this “Engineering Teacher of the Year” award. Asatekin’s research focuses on designing novel membranes for water treatment, removal of multiple types of pollutants, small molecule separations, and energy-efficient smart filtration processes. She joined Tufts in 2012.

Recognition of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award: Assistant Professor Trevion Henderson

This award is intended for tenure-track full-time faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching and advising, show concern for their students' academic and personal growth, and who convey a passion and enthusiasm for their field of study. Each department in the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering is eligible to nominate one candidate for this award. Assistant Professor Trevion Henderson joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts in 2021 and has research interests in engineering education, diversity, equity, and inclusion, team-based engineering pedagogies, and engineering design thinking.

Seymour Simches Award for Distinguished Teaching and Advising: Professor Emeritus Jeffrey Hopwood

The Seymour Simches Award honors a senior member of faculty in honor of a lifetime of outstanding teaching and advising. Each year two recipients, one each from the School of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering, are selected by the dean of each corresponding school. Professor Emeritus Jeffrey Hopwood has been teaching at Tufts since 2006 in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research interests include microplasma-based environmental sensors and novel plasma processes for the fabrication of nanoscale devices.

DEIJ Service Award (Faculty): Assistant Teaching Professor Erica M. Kemmerling

Assistant Teaching Professor Erica Kemmerling of the Department of Mechanical Engineering was selected for this award by members of the A&S DEIJ Committee and the Engineering DEIJ Committee. The award recognizes the contributions of members of the AS&E faculty and staff who have made significant efforts to define Tufts as an environment in which race, ethnicity, religion, class, gender, and sexual orientation are not barriers to the full enjoyment of community membership. Kemmerling has been at Tufts since 2015 and her research addresses problems at the intersection of mechanical engineering and medicine.

Lillian and Joseph Leibner Award for Excellence in Teaching and Advising of Students: Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor Elaine Schaertl Short

Faculty colleagues and students can nominate faculty for this award which recognizes outstanding instruction and guidance of students. A committee of the past five recipients of the award chose Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor Elaine Schaertl Short of the Department of Computer Science as this year’s recipient. Each year, the award rotates among four broad categories: arts and humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. Short joined Tufts in 2020 and researches algorithmic human-robot interaction for robust and socially appropriate assistance to human users, especially users with disabilities.

Learn more about the AS&E Faculty awards.