Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Graduate Research Mentoring

Dr. Ishak-Boushaki, whose research focuses on astrophysics and cosmology, came to UT Dallas in 2006. Dr. Boushaki’s impressive track record includes helping graduate students accumulate approximately 60 peer-reviewed publications with more than 4,200 journal citations.  His students have received a remarkable 32 total scholarships, fellowships, and awards, and his exceptional caring and guidance extends beyond their time at UT Dallas.

Dr. Dawande, Mike Redeker Distinguished Professor in Operations Management, says the Jindal School of Management has provided a fertile ground for quality research, which has helped him grow as a researcher and research mentor since his arrival in 2000. His interests include discrete optimization of problems in manufacturing and service operations, and supply chain management. Dawande and his students have applied their expertise to help solve optimization problems at several companies. 

Dr. Stefan, a professor of bioengineering, who also received the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring in 2015, credits her own influential mentors for inspiring her to teach. Dr. Stefan’s research interests encompass the synthesis and characterization of organic materials for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. She received NS&M Outstanding Teacher Award in 2009 and the President’s Teaching Excellence  Award in 2014. She received the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from NSF in 2010. 

Dr. Hansen, professor of electrical engineering and distinguished chair in telecommunications, founded The Center for Robust Speech Systems (CRSS)  in 2005. He is director of the center, which is focused on interdisciplinary research in speech processing and human computer interaction, and oversees the CRSS – Speech & Speaker Modeling Group. His research interests span the areas of digital speech processing, analysis and modeling of speech and speaker traits, speech pathology and voice assessment, speech enhancement and feature estimation in noise, robust speech recognition with current emphasis on robust recognition and training methods for spoken document retrieval and recognition in accent, noise, stress, and Lombard effect, and speech feature enhancement in hands-free environments for human-computer interaction. 

Dr. Scotch, professor of sociology and political economy, began teaching at UT Dallas in 1983. His research focuses on a variety of social policy topics related to disability, health, and education. He said he was attracted to UT Dallas by the lively interdisciplinary faculty and the diverse student body. Dr. Scotch has been active in the local health and human service community in Dallas for over three decades, working with a variety of local government and nonprofit agencies He enjoys connecting with students in the classroom or to work through some problem together in individual instruction.

Dr. Radhakrishnan, is the Constantine Konstans Distinguished Professor in Accounting and Director of Research for the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance. According to his nominators, he has been involved in the dissertations of as many as half of the PhD students who have graduated from the doctoral program in accounting since its inception. He not only teaches students how to do research, but he also  demonstrates the way by which one can earn respect from the academic profession.” His research focuses on performance management and spans a variety of areas such as organization capital, corporate social responsibility, valuation of intangible assets, executive compensation, audit liability and supply chain quality issues. 

Dr. Balsara, professor of electrical engineering, arrived at UT Dallas in 1989. He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and has received several awards from UT Dallas, including the Jonsson School award for Best Teacher in Electrical Engineering. He also has been recognized by the Jonsson School for outstanding service and exemplary contributions to PhD education and research. From 2002 to 2013, Balsara served as the associate department head for graduate studies. “My students constantly inspire me to become a better teacher and mentor, he said. “They may not be aware that I learn as much from them as they learn from me. They enable me to explore somewhat ill-defined or at times ‘weird’ ideas and bring them to fruition. I dedicate this award to all of them.”