Named positions celebrate the contributions of professors as researchers, scholars, and teachers.
Several faculty members at the University of Rochester have been appointed to named professorships during the first half of 2023. An honor designed to recognize the national stature of a professor’s work, the named positions are part of a long-standing tradition to celebrate the work of Rochester’s faculty as researchers, scholars, and teachers.
Appointments include the following faculty:
Christopher Azzara, a professor of music teaching and learning at the Eastman School of Music, has been jointly appointed as the Eisenhart Professor of Music Teaching and Learning.
Azzara is a pianist, arranger, author, and educator whose research explores meaningful relationships among listening, creating, improvising, reading, composing, and analyzing music in vocal and instrumental settings.
The professorship, established by the Eisenhart Foundation, supports music education at the Eastman School.
Amy Blatt, an associate professor of medicine, has been jointly appointed as the William L. Morgan, Jr. Professor in Medicine. Blatt retains her joint appointment as associate professor of pediatrics and as director of the internal medicine residency program.
Her interests include learner assessment, addressing bias in the clinical learning environment, and the transition from undergraduate to graduate medical education.
The professorship is named for the late William Morgan, who served as associate chairman of medicine and director of the medical residency program at Strong Memorial Hospital.
Sina Ghaemmaghami, a professor of biology, has been jointly appointed as the George Y. and Catherine H. Wu Professor in Chemistry. Ghaemmaghami retains his joint appointments as the director of undergraduate research and as the Mercer Brugler Distinguished Teaching Professor.
Ghaemmaghami’s lab studies the mechanisms of protein folding and degradation within cells. His research interests also include neurodegenerative diseases and aging, prion biology, and proteomics.
The Wu professorship for chemistry faculty was established in 2021 by George Wu ’70 and Catherine Wu.
Lisa Kitko, the dean of the School of Nursing, was jointly appointed as the Independence Foundation Chair in Nursing Education.
Kitko, an accomplished scholar, researcher, educator, and clinician, was named dean of Rochester’s School of Nursing in 2022 after serving as associate dean for graduate education and director of the PhD program at the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing at Penn State University.
The professorship was established by the Independence Foundation.
Todd Krauss, a professor of chemistry, was jointly appointed as the Jay Last Professor in Arts, Sciences & Engineering.
Krauss’s research interests include materials chemistry and physics of colloidal nanoscale semiconductors, optics of nanoscale semiconductor materials, and quantum optics and nanoscience.
The professorship honors the late Jay Last ’51, who is considered one of the “fathers” of Silicon Valley.
Dennis Kuo, a professor of pediatrics, has been jointly appointed as the Purcell Family Distinguished Professor.
Kuo’s research focuses on patient- and family-centered care for children with medical complexity, care coordination, early childhood health, and health care system reform for children with disabilities and medical complexity.
The professorship, established by Katherine Purcell, supports the chief of the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Golisano Children’s Hospital.
Mitchell Lovett, a professor of marketing at Simon Business School, has been jointly appointed as the Benjamin Forman Professor of Marketing. Lovett retains his joint appointment as senior associate dean of education and innovation.
His research interests include quantitative marketing, retail strategy, targeted advertising, advertising content and schedule choices, online and offline word-of-mouth, branding, social media listening, and consumer learning.
The professorship, which was established by an anonymous donor, supports a faculty member in marketing at the Simon Business School.
Ellen Matson, an associate professor of chemistry, was jointly appointed as the Marshall D. Gates, Jr. Professor of Chemistry.
Matson’s lab focuses on using a synthetic inorganic chemistry perspective to address current global issues related to energy storage and production.
The professorship was created in remembrance of Marshall Gates, a scholar and teacher at Rochester from 1949 to 1981, who was the first person to synthesize morphine in the laboratory.
James McGrath, a professor of biomedical engineering, was jointly appointed as the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor.
Since 2007, McGrath has been leading the Nanomembrane Research Group, an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team that is developing and applying ultrathin silicon nanomembrane technologies.
The honor is awarded in support of a teacher whose enthusiasm for learning, commitment to teaching, and interest in students make a notable contribution to the University’s undergraduate community.
Matthew McGraw, an assistant professor of pediatrics, was jointly appointed as the George Washington Goler Chair in Pediatrics.
McGraw’s research involves understanding the mechanisms of aberrant airway epithelial repair after inhalation injuries.
The professorship recognizes George Washington Goler, a public health officer who was influential in controlling tuberculosis and establishing child health programs in Rochester in the early 20th century. The position supports work to prevent disease in children.
Jeanine Miklos-Thal, a professor of economics and management at Simon Business School, has been jointly appointed as the Fred H. Gowen Professor of Economics & Management.
Her research interests include cartel pricing, pricing strategies in intermediate-goods markets, the impact of various marketing strategies on consumer quality perceptions, and reputational incentives in labor markets.
The Gowen Professorship was established in honor of Fred Gowen ’32, who served as a University trustee from 1968 until his death in 1978.
James Palis, a professor of pediatrics, was jointly appointed as the Northumberland Trust Professor in Pediatrics. Palis retains his joint appointment as a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine.
Palis’s research focuses on hematopoietic stem cells, which are responsible for the production of blood cells throughout life.
The professorship was established by an anonymous donor.
Douglas Portman, a professor of biomedical genetics, was jointly appointed as the Donald M. Foster, M.D. Professor in Biomedical Genetics. Portman retains his joint appointments as a professor of neuroscience and as a professor of biology in the School of Arts & Sciences.
His research examines the genetic control of sex differences in neurobiology and disease.
The position was established in recognition of the late Donald Foster ’50M (MD).
Michael Scharf, a professor of psychiatry, has been jointly appointed as the Mark and Maureen Davitt Distinguished Professor in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
He is psychiatrist-in-chief at Golisano Children’s Hospital, chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and director of the psychiatry graduate medical education program. Scharf is involved in several local programs dedicated to ensuring access to quality mental health care for all children and adolescents in the Rochester region.
Mark and Maureen Davitt, whom the professorship honors, are longtime philanthropists to the Medical Center.
Laurie Steiner, an associate professor of pediatrics, was appointed as the Lindsey Distinguished Professor for Pediatric Research.
Steiner’s laboratory studies how specific DNA sequences, DNA binding proteins, and chromatin structure interact during normal erythropoiesis.
The position was endowed by microbiologist Porter Anderson Jr., who named it after one of the first children to receive the Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine that Anderson codeveloped.
Holly Watkins, a professor of musicology at the Eastman School of Music, has been jointly appointed as a Minehan Family Professor.
Her current research and teaching interests center on Romanticism, the aesthetics and philosophy of music, ecocriticism, and posthumanism.
The endowed professorship was created by a gift from University Trustee Cathy Minehan ’68, former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
