Three faculty members were named Distinguished University Professors in recognition of their exemplary achievements in teaching, research, scholarship and professional service.
The newest faculty members with the honorary title, who were approved and recognized by the UToledo Board of Trustees Feb. 8, are:
• Dr. Kevin Czajkowski, professor of geography and planning in the College of Arts and Letters;
• Dr. Michael Heben, professor of physics in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics; and
• Dr. Revathy Kumar, professor of educational psychology in the Judith Herb College of Education.
From left, Dr. Kevin Czajkowski, professor of geography and planning in the College of Arts and Letters; Dr. Revathy Kumar, professor of educational psychology in the Judith Herb College of Education; and Dr. Michael Heben, professor of physics in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
“The 2023 class of Distinguished University Professors represent our University with excellence as high-achieving professors who have made an important impact in their fields,” said Dr. Risa Dickson, interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “We are proud to recognize them with our highest lifetime faculty honor.”
Czajkowski, a faculty member since 1998, is an expert in the application of geospatial and remote sensing technologies to investigate a wide range of environmental issues.
Czajkowski is an author of 50 peer-reviewed articles and 11 book chapters, and his research has been supported by $33 million in funding from agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, the National Science Foundation and the state of Ohio.
Czajkowski has made a substantial impact in science education by engaging K-12 students and their teachers as citizen-scientists. Since his GLOBE Mission EARTH program began in 2015, he has expanded it to 42 countries with more than $24 million in NASA funding to transform how science is taught to thousands of elementary, middle and high school students every year.
“I feel so fortunate to be at The University of Toledo and have the flexibility to work on interesting research topics and to work with K-12 teachers and students and my undergrad and graduate students,” Czajkowski said. “I wouldn’t have been able to get the grants I have without the support and friendship of my colleagues and staff in the Department of Geography and Planning and other departments across the University like environmental sciences, education, engineering and the Lake Erie Center.”
Heben, who joined the UToledo faculty in 2008 after serving as a principal scientist and group leader at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is a world-recognized expert on a variety of sustainable energy technologies such as photovoltaics, solar fuels, hydrogen storage and smart-grid technologies that will be required to de-carbonize our economy.
Heben, who also is the managing director of the Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization and the Helen and Harold McMaster Endowed Professor in Photovoltaics, has published nearly 200 peer-reviewed articles and has secured five patents in his 15 years at UToledo.
Heben currently is the primary investigator or co-primary investigator on $28 million in externally funded projects from the Department of Energy and the Air Force Research Laboratory and is playing a leading role in the $2 billion Department of Energy effort to create a hydrogen production hub from nuclear power plants in the northwest Ohio region.
“The students, staff, faculty and administration at UToledo have been working hard for 35 years to build on the region’s history so that, now, Toledo is known not only as the Glass City, but as the Solar City, too,” Heben said. “I am honored to be recognized as a Distinguished University Professor for my contributions in helping UToledo lead the way to a prosperous, clean energy future.”
Kumar, who joined the UToledo faculty in 2001, is recognized internationally as a leading scholar in educational psychology on race, culture, learning and motivation.
Kumar’s research focuses on the role of teachers, teacher-education programs, schools, communities and families in facilitating the development, learning and motivation of minority and immigrant adolescents.
Kumar has received more than $1.5 million in external research funding, published 22 peer-reviewed articles and written 19 peer-reviewed book chapters. She served as a visiting scholar at the Nanyang Technological Institute in Singapore and was selected to serve as a Fulbright Specialist Scholar at the University of Haifa and the Oranim College of Education in Israel. The American Psychological Association inducted Kumar as a fellow of Division 15 in 2020.
“I feel extremely honored and humbled to be elected as Distinguished University Professor by the University Academic Honors Committee,” Kumar said. “I am grateful to everyone — colleagues, friends and especially my students — for supporting me on this journey over the last 22 years. It means a lot to me. Thank you for your support as I continue to learn and advance in my field.”
