"Mark E. Bouton, Robert B. Lawson Green and Gold Professor of Psychology. You are considered among the most outstanding experimental psychologists of your generation working on animal learning. Throughout a 39-year career at UVM, you have conducted pioneering research into the role of context in the learning and memory process resulting in over 130 publications, including some of the most highly cited research papers in the discipline. You are one of the leading experts on associative learning—a core type of learning and memory—and considered by your colleagues as the foremost expert on extinction, a learning process that has been demonstrated to be fundamentally important to learning and to the treatment of a number of clinical disorders.

Mark E. Bouton, I am honored to recognize your stellar accomplishments as an experimental psychologist, research leader, and dedicated teacher and mentor by granting you the title of University Distinguished Professor of Psychological Science and Robert B. Lawson Green and Gold Professor of Psychology at the University of Vermont.”

—Provost Patricia A. Prelock

Read May 19, 2019
at the University’s 218th Commencement Ceremony

Dr. Ralph Budd is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Vermont Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Budd’s achievements in scholarship, leadership, mentoring, and service are unparalleled on the University of Vermont campus.

Dr. Budd is an internationally recognized physician-scientist who has made tremendous contributions to our understanding of the immune system. His research on the mechanisms of autoimmunity has garnered him numerous awards and research grants totaling over $60 million. In 2012, Dr. Budd was elected a member of the prestigious Association of American Physicians, whose members are recognized for their pursuit of medical knowledge, and the advancement through experimentation and discovery of basic and clinical science and their application to clinical medicine. He is the only AAP member on the UVM faculty.

Dr. Budd has served in a variety of leadership roles at UVM. He was the chief architect of what is today our highly successful Immunobiology Program, and of a recognized Center of Excellence, the Vermont Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases. He is a dedicated mentor and role model to countless junior faculty and students, and a visionary leader who has gained the admiration of his peers.

Dr. Ralph Budd, I am honored to recognize your stellar accomplishments as a physician-scientist, mentor and leader by granting you the title of University Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Vermont.

—Provost and Senior Vice President David V. Rosowsky

Read May 22, 2016
at the University’s 215th Commencement Ceremony

"Tina Escaja, Professor of Romance Languages, and Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies. You are recognized as the foremost scholar of the works of Delmira Agustini, a Uruguayan poet from the early 20th century, and Ana Rosetti, a contemporary Spanish poet. The breadth of your pioneering research and trans-cultural scholarship, in several genres, is displayed in over one hundred works that include books, book chapters, journal articles, reviews, encyclopedic entries, anthologies, and artistic productions. You are internationally known for your creative and groundbreaking work that integrates poetry and technology—electronic literature—and for your digital exhibits at museums and galleries around the world.

Tina Escaja, I am honored to recognize your stellar accomplishments as a scholar in romance languages, as a poet, artistic collaborator, teacher and inspiring mentor to our students by granting you the title of University Distinguished Professor of Romance Languages, and Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Vermont.”

—Provost Patricia A. Prelock

Read May 19, 2019
at the University’s 218th Commencement Ceremony

"Rex L. Forehand, University Distinguished Professor of Psychology. Professor Forehand, you are recognized as one of the leading authorities in child and family psychology. Before coming to UVM you attained the ranks of Distinguished Research Professor and Regents’ Professor of Psychology at the University of Georgia.

In your career you have been a prolific grant winner and scholar, publishing nearly 400 scholarly works in a field with a 70% rejection rate. Among your numerous honors you have been particularly widely recognized for your role in mentoring your student colleagues.

One reviewer noted that your students over the years have contributed 800 of their own scholarly pieces to the literature. Another reviewer, a University Distinguished Professor at his own institution, summarizes your stature by noting: “Rex Forehand is a superstar. He not only deserves this honor, but he will be a terrific standard bearer, someone who will set the exact tone I would want to set with your new University Distinguished Professorships.”

Rex L. Forehand, I am pleased to recognize you as University Distinguished Professor of Psychology.”

—Provost John M. Hughes

Read May 17, 2009
at the University’s 205th Commencement Ceremony

Michael F. Giangreco, University Distinguished Professor of Education is renowned for his work in inclusive education and his empirical work has transformed how we prepare schools to be more inclusive and just spaces for individuals with disabilities. He is described as always asking the question, “What is the purpose and value of our work?” and he is considered a “public scholar” conducting his research in the living laboratories of public schools.

—Provost Prelock, Important Faculty Updates, May 17, 2021

"Dr. Brooke T. Mossman is Professor of Pathology and Director of the Environmental Pathology Program in the College of Medicine.  Dr. Mossman is an accomplished scientist, mentor and leader in the field of asbestos-induced carcinogenesis.

Dr. Mossman’s scientific contributions over the past 30 years are numerous and sustained, resulting in international recognition as one of the world’s foremost authorities in the field of fiber carcinogenesis.

Dr. Mossman has provided an important and sustained body of work that continues to inform the world about asbestos.  She historically remains the most widely cited researcher in the world on asbestos-related diseases.

Dr. Mossman’s nominators commented that it is difficult to imagine a scientist having more direct impact on the world’s understanding of asbestos-induced cancer, or one who has provided more service to the scientific community over the past 30 years.

Dr. Brooke Mossman stands as a stellar academician and world citizen and is most deserving of holding the title of UVM University Distinguished Professor.

Brooke T. Mossman, I am pleased to recognize you as University Distinguished Professor of Pathology.”

—Provost Jane E. Knodell

Read May 22, 2011
at the University’s 207th Commencement Ceremony

"Mark T. Nelson, University Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology. Professor Nelson, you are considered a superb scientist, an effective and admired professor and chair, and a remarkably supporting and nurturing mentor.

Your discoveries and characterizations of diverse channels, Ca2+ sparks and functional changes in vascular smooth muscle have changed the field and now inform all work in smooth muscle function that is published today.

Reviewers observe that the pace of building your research portfolio, with over 170 scientific publications and an astonishing number of those in the journals Science and Nature, appears to be even accelerating. As one reviewer summarized, “Mark T. Nelson is a remarkable and complete scientist of international renown. It is truly appropriate for the University to bestow upon him the title of University Distinguished Professor.”

Mark T. Nelson, I am pleased to recognize you as University Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology.”

—Provost John M. Hughes

Read May 17, 2009
at the University’s 205th Commencement Ceremony

"George F. Pinder, University Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering.  Professor Pinder you are an internationally recognized pioneer in the creation and use of computer models for solution of groundwater contamination problems.

Working at the nexus of groundwater hydrology and numerical mathematics, you were the first to recognize the power of this interdisciplinary approach to addressing the critical environmental issue of rehabilitating contaminated aquifers. Always at the forefront of pioneering efforts in groundwater modeling since your days as a graduate student; today you are universally recognized as one of the preeminent scholars of that discipline.

You have held countless leadership positions, including President of the Hydrology Section of the American Geophysical Union and served as the founding Director of what is now the Environmental Engineering Program at Princeton University (recently named the number one Environmental Program in the US).  From 1989 to 1996 you served as the  Dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Vermont.

You are a dedicated mentor and role model to countless faculty and students, and a visionary leader who has gained the unwavering admiration of your peers.

—Provost and Senior Vice President David V. Rosowsky

Read May 21, 2017
at the University’s 216th Commencement Ceremony

"Russell P. Tracy, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Biochemistry. You have played a prominent role in elucidating hematologic aspects of cardiovascular disease. Your research through 34 years as a faculty member at UVM has resulted in major discoveries in the molecular, cellular, and genetic epidemiology of blood coagulation, fibrinolysis, and inflammation. Your more than 700 publications have been cited more than 110,000 times, numbers that placed you among the top 1 percent most highly cited researchers of 2018. For the period 1996 to 2011, you were recognized as one of the 400 most highly influential biomedical researchers.

You have served your profession with passion and dedication. Your commitment to UVM is equally impressive including, among many activities, ten years as Senior Associate Dean for Research and Academic Activities for the Larner College of Medicine.

Russell P. Tracy, I am honored to recognize your stellar accomplishments as a biomedical and clinical researcher, teacher and mentor by granting you the title of University Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Biochemistry at the University of Vermont.”

—Provost Patricia A. Prelock

Read May 19, 2019
at the University’s 218th Commencement Ceremony

Dr. Warshaw is a prominent leader in molecular motor research and the development of technologies in his discipline. As a basic scientist he has focused his research on muscle and cell motility making significant contributions to our understanding of the mechanics and regulation of smooth muscle and cardiac muscle. His peers describe him as being able to illuminate “the complexity of muscle mechanics” while communicating “complex concepts in ways students, physicians and scientists without his expertise can appreciate the elegance and the impact of his science.”

—Provost Prelock, Important Faculty Updates, May 17, 2021

Dr. Yang is a pioneer in the study of nonlinear optics in complex media waves, nonlinear photonics and parity-time optics. He has contributed to our understanding of the way light beams can be shaped and redirected through interactions with nonlinear materials. His work as an applied mathematician has been described by his peers as “crucial to the development of all-optical computing systems for image processing and parallel processing problems.”

—Provost Prelock, Important Faculty Updates, May 17, 2021