OFFICE OF THE PROVOST

current recipients

James M. Anderson, MD

As a professor of pathology, macromolecular science and biomedical engineering, Anderson’s 44 years at Case Western Reserve have included research, teaching and service that bridges medicine and engineering. In addition, he has been instrumental in developing cooperative efforts between the School of Medicine and Case School of Engineering—as well as among other universities.  Read more.

Claudia Coulton, Ph.D.

Claudia Coulton conducts research with two goals: to identify issues in urban areas and to solve them.

Time and again, her scholarly findings have prompted concrete leadership changes—which in turn have improved the lives of the people she studies.

For example, when the Center for Urban Poverty and Community Development, which she directs, released a report showing Cleveland’s inner-city residents couldn’t get to available jobs in the outer-ring suburbs via public transportation, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority adjusted its routes. And when her research showed the major role disadvantaged neighborhoods play in people’s lives—leading to systemic issues such as lack of access to education, jobs and food as well as income inequality and health disparities—she founded the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, a 35-city collaboration that develops and supports the use of neighborhood research in local policymaking and community building.  (Read more.)

Eva Kahana, PhD

As a renowned scholar on elderly care issues, Eva Kahana has won countless awards from national and international organizations. Yet the news that she had been named one of Case Western Reserve’s Distinguished University Professors took her entirely by surprise.

“They say that people far away might recognize one’s achievements more readily than those who are next door, so I think it’s very unique when the colleagues you work with day in and day out feel the work you’ve done merits such recognition and nominate you for such a great honor,” said Kahana, the Pierce and Elizabeth Robson Professor of Humanities and Sociology. (Read more.)

Chung-Chiun Liu

Liu earned his doctorate in chemical engineering from Case Western Reserve in 1968, following bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the same subject from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan and California Institute of Technology, respectively.  He then spent a decade on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh before returning to Cleveland to join the Case Western Reserve faculty as a full professor of chemical engineering.

Now, Liu serves as the Wallace R. Persons Professor of Sensor Technology and Control and director of the university’s Electronics Design Center. His research spans multiple areas, including electrochemical engineering, microelectronic materials and fabrication processes—knowledge he uses to develop miniature electrochemical and biomedical sensors, among other products.  (Read more.)

Alan Rocke, PhD

Alan J. Rocke’s work takes people across centuries and around the world. It showcases the imagination, creativity and dedication of its subjects. And it opens up a world of science that most have never known.

As the Henry Eldridge Bourne Professor of History, Rocke’s work has garnered national and international acclaim, earning him a place among the foremost scholars of the history of the physical sciences. Now his scholarship—along with teaching and university service—have earned Case Western Reserve’s highest honor for its professoriate: the title of Distinguished University Professor.  (Read more.)