The professorship, awarded for life, is the university’s most prestigious faculty award and recognizes an outstanding senior professor for academic excellence, said Stephen Doblin, provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Lamar officials announced Li’s selection Wednesday (April 22, 2009) during a program in the University Reception Center of the Mary and John Gray Library. President James Simmons conferred the medallion of University Professor – presented “as a lasting symbol of this high honor and esteemed title.”
“The award is the pinnacle of academic achievement at our university and is recognized by all as an emblem of highest merit,” Doblin said.
Also at the ceremony, the university recognized retiring faculty members Mary Alice Baker, University Professor of communication, and Celia Varick, associate professor of accounting and business law. Baker joined the faculty in 1969 and Varick in 1995.
Lamar presented University Merit Awards to assistant professors Paul Bernazzani, chemistry and physics; Ashraf El-Houbi, information systems and analysis; Xianchang Li, mechanical engineering; and Weihang Zhu, industrial engineering.
As a professor in the Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering, Ku-yen Li has served Lamar University more than 30 years. “His touch of excellence is apparent throughout the chemical engineering program – in the courses he has taught, the leadership he has provided, the faculty he has hired, the research he has conducted, the relations he has cultivated with industry and, in big ways and small, the students he has educated,” Doblin said of the 2009 University Professor.
One former student wrote, “Dr. Li is an amazing teacher who deeply cares about his students.”
Said another: “Dr. Li is an excellent motivator who knows what is required to be a top-notch engineer.”
Li has served Lamar and his profession with distinction and generosity, Doblin said. He was department chair for seven years, led the effort to gain Lamar’s only Ph.D. program, worked tirelessly to maintain accreditation from ABET Inc. (formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) and guided Lamar’s master’s program to national prominence.
Research and scholarship form the basis for Li’s exemplary professional reputation, Doblin said. He and his fellow investigators have received more than $2.6 million in external funding for 20 projects. In addition to research efforts, these funds have supported dozens of graduate students.
“Dr. Li is an outstanding professor who has devoted his entire career to Lamar University,” wrote T.C. Ho, his colleague, friend and fellow University Professor. “He has contributed to the many successes of the department and college. He is recognized as an effective and knowledgeable instructor who sets high standards and is remembered by his students long after they graduate. He is a highly productive researcher, and his record is truly outstanding.”
Jack Hopper, dean of the College of Engineering, wrote: “The title and description of University Professor will be enhanced by having an individual such as Dr. Ku-yen Li among the list of recipients.”
Li has taught 10 courses, six on the graduate level. He has supervised almost 50 graduate students in chemical engineering and has advised and directed hundreds of undergraduate students. Last year, Li received a two-year National Science Foundation teaching grant to improve Lamar’s chemical engineering curriculum and align it with industry practices. The grant mirrors one he received in 2002 to improve undergraduate chemical engineering education through best-practice modeling and simulation.
Li has earned several teaching awards, including the Outstanding Educator Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineering, Texas-Sabine Section, in 1982; the Amoco Outstanding Teaching Award in 1992; and the University Teaching Excellence Award from Lamar in 1996. Despite a hectic schedule, he has served on virtually every Lamar committee and council and is a source of knowledge and advice for local industry.
A professional engineer, Li is a long-standing member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering and has held several offices in the organization. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, Blue Key, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, and Phi Tau Phi Scholastic Honor Society of America.
He has served on editorial boards and review panels. Li is the author of almost 90 refereed publications, averaging three articles per year over three decades and including many in the nation’s most prestigious chemical engineering journals.
Li earned his Ph.D. from Mississippi State University and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Cheng-Kung University.
The event marked Lamar’s 38th annual presentation of the awards, which have honored 66 faculty members with University or Regents’ Professorships, as the title was previously known, and 171 with University Merit Awards.
“Together, our Regents' and University Professors form a Who’s Who of academic excellence,” Doblin said. “They have published scores of books and have produced thousands of articles, essays, poems and works of fine art. They have received millions upon millions of dollars in external support and research grants and countless teaching, scholarship and service awards and recognitions. Even more important, through their excellence in the classroom, laboratory, and studio, they have touched and enriched the lives of our students. By any measure, these faculty members represent the very best and are the heart and soul of Lamar University.”
