University Scholar Award

Learn more about the University Scholars Recognition Program.

Introducing the 2024-2025 University Scholar Award Recipients Heading link

Kenneth Brezinsky

Kenneth Brezinsky

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
College of Engineering

Kenneth Brezinsky is Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. His research is focused on the experimental examination and the modeling simulation of the kinetics of combustion chemistry. The chemistry of interest is that which takes place during the pyrolysis and oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels. He has received competitive government funding of more than $22 million from federal agencies, which include the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Army Research Office, and the Army Research Laboratory. He has published more than one hundred twenty-five peer reviewed articles and made more than one hundred seventy scientific presentations. He has been recognized for his contribution to combustion science by his designation as an inaugural fellow of the Combustion Institute.

Pai-Yen Chen

Pai-Yen Chen

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Engineering

Pai-Yen Chen is a Professor in the ECE department at UIC. He has been engaged in interdisciplinary research in electronics and photonics across the electromagnetic spectrum, with results published in Nature, Nature Electronics and Nature Nanotechnology, and on the covers of journals and newsletters. Currently, he is a UIC Outstanding Global Scholar and an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer

Pauline Maki

Pauline Maki

Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and the Center for the Research on Women and Gender
College of Medicine

For over 25 years, Dr. Maki has led a program of NIH-funded research focused on women’s mental and cognitive health during reproductive transitions (menopause, pregnancy, menstrual cycle). Her broad goal is to improve the lives of women by identifying factors that alter their risk of cognitive decline and affective disorders.

Nadine Naber

Nadine Naber

Global Asian Studies Program
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Dr. Naber is a Professor in Gender and Women’s Studies, Global Asian Studies, and Anthropology; author of Arab America (NYU Press, 2012) and co-editor of books such as Race and Arab Americans and Arab American Feminisms. Her current books focus on the impact of police violence on mothers of color in Chicago and methodologies for community-engaged research.

Yasen Peyankov

Yasen Peyankov

Department of Theatre
College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts

Yasen Peyankov is a Professor and Head of Theatre at the School of Theatre and Music. He is an actor,
director and adaptor who is a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble and currently serves on
Steppenwolf Theatre’s Board of Trustees. He was last seen in the feature film Maestro.

Mark Schlossman

Mark Schlossman

Department of Physics
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Since joining UIC in 1994, Mark Schlossman has investigated molecular scale effects at aqueous solution interfaces, with an emphasis on phenomena occurring at liquid-liquid interfaces. He has led the development and operation of X-ray instrumentation that enabled those investigations at NSF’s ChemMatCARS at the Advanced Photon Source.

Past University Scholar Recipients Heading link

  • Natasha Devroye, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
  • Robert F. Klie, Department of Physics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • Georgeta-Elisabeta (Liz) Marai, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering
  • A. Simon Pickard, Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes and Policy, College of Pharmacy
  • Karl Rockne, Department of Civil, Materials and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering
  • Deepak Shukla, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, College of Medicine – Chicago
  • Mary Ashley, Professor, Biological Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • Joanna Burdette, Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacy
  • Judith Cook, Professor, Psychiatry, Medicine
  • Orly Lazarov, Professor, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medicine
  • Amin Salehi-Khojin, Associate Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Engineering
  • Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar. Professor, Occupational Therapy, Applied Health Sciences
  • Eben Alsberg, Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Engineering
  • Arden Handler, Professor, Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health
  • Maria Krysan, Professor, Sociology, Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • Abolfazl Mohammadian, Professor, Civil, Materials, and Environmental Engineering, Engineering
  • Heather Prendergast, Professor, Emergency Medicine, Medicine
  • Reza Shahbazian-Yassar, Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Engineering