Three recipients of one of the University of Michigan’s most prestigious honors, the Distinguished University Professorship, will share highlights of their careers Jan. 29 at the Rackham Amphitheatre.
Mark J. Kushner, Robert M. Sellers and Kon-Well Wang will each speak, followed by brief question-and-answer sessions, between 4 and 6 p.m. The public is welcome to attend, and the event will also be livestreamed.
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The Board of Regents named Kushner and Wang Distinguished University Professors in 2023. Sellers was selected in 2024.
The regents established the Distinguished University Professorship in 1947 to recognize senior faculty members with exceptional scholarly or creative achievements, as well as national or global reputations for academic excellence and superior records of teaching, mentoring and service.
Each honoree names their professorship after a person of distinction in their field, often someone associated with the university. Newly appointed recipients also give an inaugural lecture that highlights their professional and scholarly experience.
Here is a brief summary of each honoree’s career and a preview of what each will present at the event.
Mark J. Kushner
“Plasma Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan”
Kushner is the William P. Allis Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He also is the George I. Haddad Collegiate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and professor of electrical engineering and computer science, of nuclear engineering and radiological science, and of chemical engineering in the College of Engineering.
Kushner is a worldwide leader in the science and technology of low-temperature plasmas. His research has been foundational for plasma medicine and plasma agriculture, and he has been at the forefront of explaining complex processes that occur when plasmas interact with liquid.
He also founded the Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering, and he has backed women and underrepresented minorities in engineering, creating a mentoring alliance with the American Physical Society’s Division of Plasma Physics.
In their recommendation letter to the Board of Regents, Laurie McCauley, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, and Michael Solomon, Rackham Graduate School dean and vice provost for academic affairs – graduate studies, said Kushner was a “leading figure in the study of LTPs” and his work “has focused international attention on U-M as a leading institute in plasma science.”
Kushner’s presentation will focus on how plasmas play a critical role in nature, technology and national security. He also will outline how U-M has become a leading institution in the science and applications of plasma by providing an overview of the contributions from the U-M plasma science and engineering community.
Robert M. Sellers
“My Journey in Search for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Michigan”
Sellers is the James S. Jackson Distinguished Career Award for Diversity Scholarship. He also is the Charles D. Moody Collegiate Professor of Psychology and professor of psychology in LSA; professor of education in the Marsal Family School of Education; and a faculty associate in ISR’s Research Center for Group Dynamics.
Sellers has devoted his career to studying the impact of race on the psychology of African Americans and to creating tools and programs to increase representation of students and faculty of color at U-M.
He also is the former vice provost for equity and inclusion, and chief diversity officer. While in that role, Sellers created Wolverine Pathways, a heralded college preparatory program for seventh to 12th graders living in underresourced communities in Michigan.
“Professor Sellers’ work on racial identity development has transformed the field of psychology, giving us new tools to understand the experience of race, identity and inequality,” McCauley and Solomon wrote. “His service at the university and national levels has shaped the field of psychology and changed the institution for the better.”
Sellers’ lecture will detail his 32 years at U-M as a graduate student, faculty member and administrator. He plans to share both “joyous and proud moments, as well as some moments in which I have had less pride.” Sellers’ goal is to use his own experiences as examples for how to approach difficult decisions and conversations about U-M’s future.
Kon-Well Wang
“On the Engineering of Smarter Mechanical Structures”
Wang is the A. Galip Ulsoy Distinguished University Professor of Engineering. He also is the Stephen P. Timoshenko Collegiate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a professor of mechanical engineering in CoE.
Wang’s ground-breaking research has helped advance a range of engineering systems, from space antenna reflectors to vehicle drivetrains to sonic barriers. His work also has helped develop emerging adaptive structures and material systems that can alter their properties in real time, impacting a broad range of engineering functions, including vibration and noise mitigation, wave control, damage identification and energy harvesting.
Solomon and McCauley wrote that Wang “is one of the most influential research leaders worldwide who has pioneered new classes of adaptive structures that transformed the field and launched path-breaking new directions of study harnessing cross-disciplinary sciences.”
Wang’s presentation will provide an overview of his career in the field of adaptive structures and material systems, with details on projects that focused on functional materials-based structures and nature-inspired modular meta-structures. He will also share some of the “impactful outcomes from basic research and how they are utilized to advance engineering systems.”
