SFSU Public Affairs Press Release
Published by the Public Affairs Office at San Francisco State University, Diag Center.
| SFSU Public Affairs Press ReleasePublished by the Public Affairs Office at San Francisco State University, Diag Center. |
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--April 23, 1999--San Francisco State University professor and planet finder Geoffrey Marcy is one of the first recipients of the California State University Wang Family Excellence Award. The Wang (pronounced WONG) award was established last fall through a $1 million donation by Trustee Stanley T. Wang —the largest individual donation ever given to the system. The award is designed to reward outstanding faculty and administrators, "to celebrate those CSU faculty and administrat ors who through extraordinary commitment and dedication have distinguished themselves by exemplary contributions and achievements in their academic disciplines and areas of assignment." Over the next ten years the annual award will honor four faculty members and one administrator chosen from throughout the CSU system.
Dr. Marcy received the Wang Family Excellence Award for his key work in the discovery of more than 14 extra-solar planets, including the latest discovery of a three-planet system orbiting the Sun-like star Upsilon Andromedae. While his discoveries have received international attentions, Dr. Marcy continues to be resolute in his commitment to undergraduate and graduate instruction. At SFSU, Marcy draws much satisfaction from the university’s commitment to the combination of teaching and research. He s ays his graduate student assistants are "literally invaluable" and works in close collaboration with them on many aspects of his ongoing research. He teachers both upper division and graduate level courses, as well as low division physics classes. In addition, Marcy has received numerous service awards as well as grants from NASA and the National Science Foundation. He has been a member of SFSU’s faculty since 1984.
Trustee Wang is founder, president and CEO of Pantronix Corp. The company, which was incorporated in 1974, provides a range of manufacturing services for semiconductor components, sub systems and modules. "Education is the most important reason for my success. My professors taught me to be who I am today. I have always had great respect for faculty and presidents. The faculty recognition award is to demonstrate the deep appreciation I feel as a Trustee and former student," said Wang, a CSU trustee s ince 1994, when he established the award program last fall.
The Wang Family Excellence Award is administered through the CSU Foundation. Each campus president may nominate one faculty member each year from each of the following disciplines: visual and performing arts and letters; natural sciences, mathematical and computer sciences and engineering; social and behavioral sciences and public services; and education, and the professional and applied science fields. The chancellor and presidents also may nominate one administrator. The first recipients will rec eive the awards at the May 11-12 CSU Trustees meeting.
San Francisco State University is a highly diverse community of 27,000 students and 3,500 faculty and staff. It is one of the largest campuses in the nationally recognized 23-campus California State University system. Founded in 1899, the University is celebrating its 100th year of service to San Francisco, the Bay Area and beyond.
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