Dr. Reza Moheimani (right) was named the James Von Ehr Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology at the 2016 Investiture Ceremony. The position was created through a gift by James Von Ehr MS'81 and his wife, Gayla, in 2002.
The University of Texas at Dallas will recognize the accomplishments of 13 recently endowed faculty members at an Investiture Ceremony and reception on Friday.
“This ceremony provides us with the opportunity to recognize some of our most accomplished faculty members. Their research contributions to UT Dallas are enhanced by the generosity of the many donors investing in our institution.”
Dr. Inga Musselman,
interim provost at UT Dallas
The ceremony also will honor the donors who helped establish the endowed chairs and professorships and whose generosity plays a role in advancing the faculty members’ instructional programs and research.
“This ceremony provides us with the opportunity to recognize some of our most accomplished faculty members,” said Dr. Inga Musselman, interim provost. “Their research contributions to UT Dallas are enhanced by the generosity of the many donors investing in our institution. The donors’ contributions are essential to attracting the kinds of faculty members we will celebrate at this year’s ceremony, and we are grateful for their support of UT Dallas’ bright future.”
The event will be held at 2 p.m. in the Student Services Building Addition Auditorium. The University community is encouraged to join the honorees’ families and special guests at the ceremony.
High Honor
Regarded as the highest academic honor the University can bestow, endowments recognize the contributions of senior-level faculty members and provide their programs with funds to excel their scholarship, support research and fuel collaborations with other institutions. UT Dallas has more than 110 chairs and professorships.
During the ceremony — part of an academic tradition dating back more than 500 years — participants don full academic regalia, and the honorees received medallions symbolizing their achievements.
Learn more about endowed chairs and professorhsips at UT Dallas.
The faculty members who will be invested hold professorships and chairs in the Office of the President; the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication; the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences; the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences; the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science; and the Naveen Jindal School of Management.
Dr. Francesca Filbey, whose research at the Center for BrainHealth focuses on the causes and consequences of addiction, will be among those recognized.
“To carry Dean Bert Moore’s name is an honor and a privilege,” Filbey said. “I am delighted to contribute toward Dean Moore’s legacy of innovative and interdisciplinary research in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. At the Center for BrainHealth, I look forward to honoring his memory, conducting research in search of important scientific discoveries that expand our understanding of brain and behavior.”
The Bert Moore Chair in BrainHealth was created by Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth and Dee Wyly Distinguished University Chair in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, in honor of the school’s longtime dean who passed away in 2015.