Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 2, 1993 TAG: 9304020436
SECTION: FOUNDERS DAY PAGE: FD-11 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ENGINEERING PROFESSOR TAKES TECH'S TOP TEACHING AWARD
Because his love of working with students transcends cultural and language barriers, a gentle man who once was India's top math student has now taken Virginia Tech's top teaching prize.An endowed professor of industrial and system engineering, Hanif D. Sherali says that over the years he has received numerous awards for his work but "nothing satisfies him more than teaching students and helping them to develop. The educational process is the most enriching experience of my life."
Despite English being Sherali's secong language and despite theoretical engineering courses being some of the toughest to teach, this man has made his mark on both Virginia Tech and his students.
"He is an inspiration even to faculty and has achieved all of the accomplishments of a consummate scholar and educator of immense distinction," Engineering Dean Wayne Clough points out.
On three separate occasions he received the College of Engineering Certificate of Excellence Award for Teaching, as well as earning 11 other citations for the high quality of his teaching. Now he has garnered one of two Alumni Teaching Excellence Awards given annually.
Department head Bob Dryden calls Sherali "undoubtedly one of the most remarkable young men in the engineering profession. Although he is only 40 years old, he has capably and unselfishy allocated more than normal time to student advising, has actively participated in professional organizations, and has willingly contributed to the university through committee service and off-campus instructional activity."
Not only a major figure on the classroom scene, the Tech engineering professor also has been an outstanding performer in research. He has been the principal investigator on 22 research projects funded by federal agencies and industries, and has directed 13 Ph.D. and 18 M.S. students, three of whom have received national society awards for their research.
Over his academic and professional career he has won seven prestigious prizes for engineering and mathematics, and two prizes for research, including the Indian Institute of Engineer's Gold Medal and a prize for "Excellence in Mathematics," awarded for being first out of 5,000 competing students.
A colleague at Penn State characterizes the engineering professor as "the most astute and insightful person I ever met in the entire academic discipline of operations research. He is a mental giant, a dedicated teacher - actually, the finest teacher I have ever known - and one of the finest human beings I have ever know."