University Will Celebrate Professors, Donors at Investiture Ceremony

Dr. Nikki Delk, Fellow, Cecil H. and Ida Green Professor in Systems Biology Science, received her medallion from University President Richard C. Benson (left) and Dr. Bruce Novak, dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, during last year’s Investiture Ceremony.

The University of Texas at Dallas will celebrate 12 of its most accomplished faculty members at an Investiture Ceremony and reception on April 29.

The ceremony also will honor the many donors who helped establish the endowed chairs and professorships that play a critical role in advancing faculty members’ instructional programs and research.

“The generosity of our donors has contributed greatly to enriching the academic environment of UT Dallas,” said President Richard C. Benson, who holds the Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership. “Their investments in our institution allow us to attract and support talented faculty who impact so many through their teaching and mentoring of students, and through their research accomplishments, scholarship and creative endeavors.”

The event will be held at 2 p.m. in the Student Services Building Addition Auditorium (SSA 13.330). The University community is encouraged to join the honored faculty members’ families and special guests at the ceremony.

High Honor

The 12 faculty members who will be formally honored hold professorships and chairs in the Office of Graduate Education, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, Naveen Jindal School of Management and the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Considered the highest academic honor a university can bestow, endowments provide senior-level faculty with funds to advance their scholarship and support research. UT Dallas has more than 120 chairs and professorships.

Investitures are among the oldest traditions in academia, dating back more than 500 years. During the ceremony, honorees and ceremonial participants don full academic regalia. The honorees will receive medallions symbolizing their achievements.

Dr. Baowei Fei, an imaging scientist and cancer scholar whose work has transformed medical imaging and intervention for cancer care and who teaches in the Department of Bioengineering in the Jonsson School, will be among those recognized at the ceremony.

“It is my great honor being a Cecil H. and Ida Green Chair in Systems Biology Science at UT Dallas. It is also a great honor that the title of the endowed chair is from one of UTD’s founders, Cecil Green,” Fei said. “As a biomedical engineer and imaging scientist, I am amazed by the rapid growth of the bioengineering department at UT Dallas. I am also amazed by the success of the faculty members in the department. I am proud to be part of the team.”

Fei was recruited to UT Dallas in 2018. He is also a professor in the Department of Radiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

The legacy of Cecil H. and Ida Green at UT Dallas was to establish in Dallas a world-class cohort of faculty and students in integrated interdisciplinary biomedical research at UT Dallas and UT Southwestern. The Cecil Green estate created the professorship.