Two faculty members in the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University School of Art and Design have been honored by the State University of New York with SUNY Chancellor’s Awards.
At a ceremony held Monday, Aug. 17, in Albany, SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. presented Distinguished Professor Awards for the years 2024, 2025, and 2026. S.K. Sundaram, Inamori Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in Alfred’s Inamori School of Engineering, was honored with a 2025 Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Professorship. Angus Powers ’00, professor of glass in Alfred University’s School of Art and Design, was presented the 2025 Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Teaching Professorship.
As Distinguished Professorship honorees, Sundaram and Powers were both inducted into the State University of New York Distinguished Academy.
“These prestigious appointments underscore the extraordinary caliber of faculty at the New York State College of Ceramics,” said Gabrielle Gaustad ’04, dean of the Inamori School of Engineering and vice president for Statutory Affairs at Alfred University, who submitted nominations for the two awards. “Angus Powers and S.K. Sundaram have made distinctive contributions to teaching, scholarship, and the field, and their recognition reflects the impact our faculty have well beyond Alfred.”
The Distinguished Professorship is conferred upon faculty having achieved national or international prominence and a distinguished reputation within the individual’s chosen field through significant contributions to research and scholarship, or through artistic performance or achievement in the fine and performing arts.
Alfred University’s nomination of Sundaram for the honor cited his work developing waste forms used to contain nuclear waste. Sundaram “has made significant fundamental contributions to understanding the structure-properties relationship in advanced materials, particularly ceramics and glass and ceramics, critical for energy and nuclear applications.”
Sundaram was co-principal investigator on a recently-completed three-year U.S. Department of Energy-supported project funded through the Advance Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) “Optimizing Nuclear Waste and Advanced Reactor Disposal Systems” (ONWARDS) program. A collaboration between five universities and two national laboratories, the research focused on Pioneering a Cermet Waste Form for Disposal of Waste Streams from Advanced Reactors (PACE-FORWARD). The goal of was to deliver a simple, scalable route for turning used nuclear fuel into a high-density, durable cermet (a heat-resistant ceramic and metallic composite) waste form. The product resulting from the research—which has been granted a U.S. patent—is expected to lower waste burden and sustain future deployment of carbon-free nuclear power.
The nomination also referred to work done by Sundaram’s research group that studied the properties relationships of ceramics and glasses which could potentially revolutionize cancer detection, drug/explosives sensing, and high-speed communication.
The Distinguished Teaching Professorship is conferred upon faculty having achieved a distinguished reputation for commitment to teaching. Faculty must demonstrate teaching mastery, consistently demonstrated over multiple years at the institution where the Distinguished Teaching Professorship is bestowed, at the undergraduate, graduate, or professional levels. Faculty must contribute to the discipline and to the University, the State of New York, or the nation by the use of innovative pedagogy and the sustained application of intellectual skills drawing from the candidate’s scholarly and research interests.
In its nomination of Powers for the honor, Alfred University noted his combined emphasis on technical mastery and personal expression in creating glass art based on a well-rounded understanding of the medium. “Angus Powers seamlessly blends rigorous technical training with creative exploration, creating an environment where students are encouraged to push boundaries and find their unique artistic voices.”
In Alfred University’s School of Art and Design, the nomination states, Powers—who earned a B.F.A. degree from Alfred in 2000—is “celebrated for his immersive, hands-on teaching style.” He has consistently demonstrated teaching mastery at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels. Under his guidance, many of his students have achieved notable success in the glass art world, “which highlights Powers’ profound influence on their professional development.”
