Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities recognizes faculty who consistently engage in, and have established, a solid record of scholarship and creative productivity in addition to their teaching responsibilities. The excellence awards were handed out during an Oct. 27 ceremony.

Jean H. Quataert, professor of history and co-editor of the Journal of Women’s History, joined Binghamton’s faculty in 1986. Internationally recognized as a scholar of German women’s and gender history, she is a pioneer who has helped establish and shape the field of women’s history. From her dissertation through her current works, Quataert has been called path-breaking and a scholar of long-lasting influence. A prolific writer and author of several books including Advocating Dignity: Human Rights Mobilizations in Global Politics (2009) and The Gendering of Human Rights in the International Systems of Law in the Twentieth Century (2006), she has contributed significantly to historians’ understanding of modern German history and, more recently, of the little-studied forces in world history in the 60 years since World War II, during which a powerful, transnational human rights movement has emerged. She has also co-edited four books, written more than two dozen articles and chapters, and published in the American Historical Review, German Studies Review, European History Quarterly and Journal of Modern History. She has received both the Central European History Prize for best article in a two-year period and the Berkshire Prize for best article in the field of history written by a woman. Quataert, recently selected as co-editor of the prestigious Journal of Women’s History for 2010 to 2015, earned her bachelor of arts in international relations from the University of California at Los Angeles, her master of arts in history from Columbia University and her PhD in history from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Professor of Mechanical Engineering Bahgat G. Sammakia earned his bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alexandria in Egypt, and his master of science and PhD in mechanical engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. He joined Binghamton University in 1998, after rising to project manager at IBM Corporation. Currently interim vice president for research at Binghamton, he is director of the New York State Center of Excellence in Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging and the Integrated Electronics Engineering Center. Sammakia also serves as the University’s executive director for economic development and outreach and oversees the Analytical and Diagnostics Laboratory. A pivotal leader and researcher, Sammakia collaborates across disciplines and organizations to foster and integrate knowledge at the frontiers of research. He has had a profound impact on the field of flexible electronics, reduction of heat in high-performance circuits, three-dimensional electronic assemblies, thermal management and biomedical applications, and received the 2010 iTherm Achievement Award for his contributions to the field. His research in experimental and numerical investigations of heat transfer through convection is timely and significant, and will help reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. An elected fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Sammakia has received the Motorola Silver Quill Award for his publications, the SUNY Partners in Excellence Award and the American Society of Mechanical Engineering Division Award for excellence in the area of thermal management of electronic systems. He has also been recognized as an Outstanding Researcher/Scholar by the Research Foundation of SUNY.

Professor of Physics Masatsugu Suzuki is called the unquestioned world leader in graphite intercalation compounds — compounds in which groups of molecules have been inserted between graphite layers — and is known for expanding research into new directions in spin-glass behavior in magnetic materials, including the properties of magnetic nanoparticles. Suzuki holds bachelor and master of science degrees in electrical engineering from Yokohama National University in Japan and a doctorate in physics from the University of Tokyo. He joined the faculty at Binghamton University is 1986. Much of his research in condensed matter physics focuses on the magnetic and superconducting properties of low-dimensional systems. His work with intercalation compounds, a new class of electronic materials that are particularly versatile, allows him to study the interactions between metal atoms within their layers. He also works with experimental solid-state physics, properties of semi-metals and superconductors. Some of Suzuki’s findings have been called turning points in the field of spin glasses — a field of experimental studies of disordered magnets. His discoveries are said to be spreading the frontiers of our knowledge and of the unusual properties of spin glasses. He has had more than 150 papers published in peer-reviewed journals, including Physical Review B, the most significant and respected peer-reviewed archival journal for condensed matter research. He has also co-authored the book, Graphite Intercalation Compounds and Applications (2003), which serves as an important reference for other researchers and in which he has defined the nature of exchange interactions in graphite intercalation compounds.