Mathematics faculty recognized with awards
As we near the close of the academic year, we are pleased to announce that a few of our faculty have been recognized for their dedication to research and teaching.
Hengguang Li, professor and chair, has been awarded the Excellence in Postdoctoral Mentorship Award. This annual award is given to four mentors who have an excellent record in mentoring postdoctoral trainees. Dr. Li's research centers around numerical analysis, partial differential equations, and scientific computing. He develops new, paradigm-shifting numerical methodologies for mathematically challenging yet practically important problems in scientific computing. His work reflects a strong interplay of rigorous mathematical analysis, the design and effective implementation of numerical algorithms, and their applications to physics, engineering, finance, and medicine. Dr. Li has supervised five postdoctoral researchers at Wayne State University since 2015.
Peimeng Yin, post-doctoral fellow with the department, has been awarded the Postdoctoral Trainee Research Award. The annual award recognizes nine postdoctoral trainees who have shown outstanding promise in scientific research. Dr. Yin graduated from Iowa State University in 2019, in the same year he joined in Wayne State as a post-doctoral fellow under the supervision of Professor Hengguang Li. Dr. Yin's research falls into the general area of computational and applied mathematics, including mathematical modeling, applied analysis, numerical analysis and scientific computing. He develops efficient and high-order numerical methodologies for important and practical applications in engineering, physics, and biology, etc. In addition, Dr. Yin is an active referee for many journals.
Richard Pineau, Senior Lecturer, has been recognized for his teaching with two awards. The first is the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, which recognizes faculty who have made outstanding contributions to teaching. He joins Daniel Isaksen, Christopher Nazelli, Daniel Drucker, and Steven Kahn from our department who have previously been recognized with this award; Pineau is only the second lecturer to be recognized in our department. Additionally, he was part of the first cohort to receive the new General Education Teaching Award. This award recognizes instructors who are distinguished by their commitment to student success in the General Education Program. Inducted last year, Pineau is also a member of the Wayne State Academy of Teachers.
Christopher Nazelli, senior lecturer, has been recognized for his teaching with admission to the Wayne State University Academy of Teachers. The Academy is part of the Office for Teaching and Learning (OTL). It is "committed to promoting the shared value and culture of teaching excellence and student achievement at Wayne State University". Dr. Nazelli is part of the fourth class of inductees. Members of the Academy are expected to work with OTL in presenting at least two workshops on topics of their choice over the first 3 years of their membership. And the recognition as a member of the academy is lifetime. Dr. Nazelli teaches with the Emerging Scholars Program, the Math Corps, and is director of curriculum and instruction, Center for Excellence and Equity in Mathematics. He is very involved in Lesson Study initiatives both inside and outside of Wayne State. He joins Richard Pineau as the second member of our department to be inducted into the Academy. Additionally, he and Pineau are the only two mathematics faculty to hold the two highest teaching awards the university can give.
We are proud of all our faculty members and appreciate the hard work and dedication that they have made to teaching and research. We congratulate these three faculty on receiving these awards.