2024 Annual Awards Honor Faculty and Teaching Assistants

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The 2024 Faculty Honors Convocation, held April 26 in the Rubin Campus Center Odeum, celebrated outstanding WPI faculty members and teaching assistants. Awards were presented during the ceremony to recognize excellence in areas including innovation, teaching, service to community, research, and academic advising. Here are the winners:

Karen Troy, professor and associate department head in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, received the Board of Trustees Chair’s Exemplary Faculty Prize. The award honors excellence across areas of faculty performance, including teaching, research, and scholarship. Troy was recognized for inspiring and mentoring students, exposing them to the excitement of lab experimentation, and researching biomechanics, bone strength, and risk factors for bone stress injury. Read the award citation here.

Greg Lewin, assistant teaching professor and associate head in the Department of Robotics Engineering, received the Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Teaching. The award recognizes faculty who display excellence in teaching and outstanding professional contributions. Lewin was recognized for his engaging approach to presenting introductory robotics, for helping students in the lab, and for being invested in the success and well-being of students. Read the award citation here.

Jamal Yagoobi, the George F. Fuller Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, received the Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Research & Creative Scholarship. The award recognizes outstanding teaching, research, and creative scholarship, academic advising, and service to the community. Yagoobi was recognized for his significant contributions to the understanding of drying and thermal processes and connecting industry and academic research. Read the award citation here.

Leonard Albano, associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering, received the Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Academic Advising. The award recognizes the guidance and mentorship offered by academic advisors through stages of professional and personal development. Albano was recognized for always leaving his door open for students, going out of his way to make students feel seen, and helping them grow as people and professionals. Read the award citation here.

Mark Richman, associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and WPI’s Secretary of the Faculty, received the Denise Nicoletti Trustees’ Award for Service to Community. The award honors the memory and spirit of service of the first tenure-track female faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the co-founder of Camp Reach, a summer program which introduces girls to engineering and science. Richman was recognized for supporting and elevating people in the WPI community. Read the award citation here.

Joseph Aguilar, assistant professor of teaching in the Department of Humanities & Arts, Kate McIntyre, assistant professor in the Department of Humanities & Arts, and Rose Bohrer, assistant professor in the Computer Science Department, received the Romeo L. Moruzzi Young Faculty Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education. The award honors the memory of a longtime faculty member who was a key player in bringing tenure to WPI and creating the WPI Plan, which revolutionized undergraduate education on campus. Aguilar and McIntyre were recognized for their work to make creative writing thrive at WPI. Read the award citation here. Bohrer was recognized for advancing computer science education at WPI through a redesign of a programming language course and integration of theory with social and ethical considerations. Read the award citation here.

Rebecca Gilchrist, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, received the Teaching Assistant of the Year Award. The award honors the contributions graduate students make to the quality and success of WPI’s curriculum. Gilchrist was recognized for teaching with humor and skill and allowing students to leave the fear of failure behind. Read the award citation here. Alexandra Harrison, a graduate student in the Department of Chemical Engineering, received honorable mention for her excellent support of students and faculty.

2024 award recipients

(L-R) Secretary of the Faculty Mark Richman, Chair’s Exemplary Faculty Prize Winner Karen Troy, President Grace J. Wang, Board of Trustees Vice Chair Joyce Kline, Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Arthur Heinricher

(L-R) Secretary of the Faculty Mark Richman, Chair’s Exemplary Faculty Prize Recipient Karen Troy, President Grace J. Wang, Board of Trustees Vice Chair Joyce Kline, Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Arthur Heinricher

(L-R) Secretary of the Faculty Mark Richman, Associate Professor George Heineman (Computer Science), Spence Greene ’26 (Computer Science), Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Teaching Recipient Greg Lewin, President Grace J. Wang, Board of Trustees Vice Chair Joyce Kline, Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Arthur Heinricher

(L-R) Secretary of the Faculty Mark Richman, Associate Professor Jagan Srinivasan (Biology & Biotechnology), Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Research & Creative Scholarship Recipient Jamal Yagoobi, President Grace J. Wang, Board of Trustees Vice Chair Joyce Kline, Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Arthur Heinricher

(L-R) Secretary of the Faculty Mark Richman, Allison Califano ’25 (Civil Engineering), Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Academic Advising Recipient Leonard Albano, President Grace J. Wang, Board of Trustees Vice Chair Joyce Kline, Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Arthur Heinricher

(L-R) Director, Technology for Teaching & Learning Kate Beverage, Denise Nicoletti Trustees’ Award for Service to Community Recipient Mark Richman, President Grace J. Wang, Board of Trustees Vice Chair Joyce Kline, Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Arthur Heinricher

(L-R) Secretary of the Faculty Mark Richman, Professor of Teaching Marcel Blais (Mathematical Sciences), Michael Magalhaes ’24 (Mechanical Engineering), Romeo L. Moruzzi Young Faculty Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education Recipients Joseph Aguilar & Kate McIntyre, President Grace J. Wang, Board of Trustees Vice Chair Joyce Kline, Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Arthur Heinricher

(L-R) Secretary of the Faculty Mark Richman, Professor of Teaching Marcel Blais (Mathematical Sciences), Michael Magalhaes ’24 (Mechanical Engineering), Romeo L. Moruzzi Young Faculty Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education Recipient Rose Bohrer, President Grace J. Wang, Board of Trustees Vice Chair Joyce Kline, Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Arthur Heinricher

(L-R) Secretary of the Faculty Mark Richman, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies Alexander Wyglinski, Teaching Assistant of the Year Award Recipient Rebecca Gilchrist, President Grace J. Wang, Board of Trustees Vice Chair Joyce Kline, Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Arthur Heinricher

Greg Lewin

Associate Teaching Professor, Robotics Engineering

Dr. Lewin is the Associate Head of Robotics Engineering. He teaches courses that focus on system integration, sensor and data processing, and system design. Prior to joining WPI, Dr. Lewin was an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia, where he directed the Technology [...]

Joseph Aguilar

Associate Professor of Teaching,

Humanities and Arts - HUA

Joe Aguilar’s teaching and research interests include creative writing, Chicano literature, folklore, science fiction, and the contemporary American novel. He has received support from MacDowell, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Write [...]

Jamal Yagoobi

Job Title George F. Fuller Professor & Donald M. Zwiep Distinguished Fellow, Mechanical & Materials Engineering

I enjoy teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Teaching is very rewarding, and it allows me to interact with the students. My teaching portfolio includes undergraduate and graduate level courses in the areas of heat transfer, fluid mechanics, liquid/vapor phase chan [...]

Kate McIntyre

Associate Professor,

Humanities and Arts - HUA

Dr. McIntyre’s research interests include writing fiction and creative nonfiction, collaborative writing, narrative theory, literary magazine publishing, the contemporary novel, the intersection of literary and genre fiction, and the gothic. Her short story collection, Mad Prairi [...]

Karen Troy

John Woodman Higgins Professor & Department Head, Biomedical Engineering

The ability of our biological tissues to adapt to their mechanical environment, and the ways in which our tissues are well suited for their own mechanical role within the body, is a constant source of wonder to me. I am interested in understanding the mechanical signals that ar [...]

Leonard Albano

Associate Professor, Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering

I enjoy teaching civil engineering fundamentals in 1000 and 2000-level courses, and then revisiting those fundamentals in upper level and graduate courses as a base for presenting advanced topics and fostering deeper learning. This emphasis on fundamentals can be challenging to u [...]

Mark Richman

Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering

I have served two past terms as WPI’s Secretary of the Faculty (from 2009 to 2012 and from 2015 to 2018) and am currently serving a third term that began in 2021. My passion for faculty governance at WPI stems from my passion for the faculty itself. My pride in our faculty gov [...]