Rick Register, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and director of the Princeton Materials Institute, has received the inaugural Princeton University Distinguished Faculty Service Award. The award was presented to Register and Sandie Bermann, the Cotsen Professor in the Humanities, professor of comparative literature and director of the Program in Values and Public Life, on Feb. 6.
New this year, the award recognizes faculty who have made exceptional contributions in service to Princeton not only within, but also beyond their academic departments. It was established to better steward, recognize and honor the faculty service which is so vital to the life and success of the University.
“Good citizenship and selfless service are essential to the health of any university community, but too often they go unrecognized,” said President Christopher L. Eisgruber. “I am therefore grateful to Dean of the Faculty Gene Jarrett for creating the Distinguished Faculty Service Award, and I am especially delighted that the first honorees are Sandie Bermann and Rick Register. They are wonderful people who have served Princeton with distinction and positive energy; indeed, I cannot imagine any more deserving recipients.”
All nominations were reviewed by a University-wide committee consisting of the dean of the faculty, the dean of the Graduate School, the dean of the college, the vice dean for diversity and inclusion, and the clerk of the faculty. In future years, award recipients will also serve on this jury.
The honorees are recognized with a dinner at Prospect House, a medal, and a monetary award.
Said Jarrett, “I have been privileged to work with the president and colleagues to develop an award to honor our Princeton faculty for their remarkable University-wide service — indeed, for the kinds of service, not only within but also beyond their academic departments, that contribute immensely to the life and success of the University.”
Register joined the faculty in 1990 as an assistant professor. He is a leader in the study of complex materials, specializing in materials synthesis, processing, structure and properties, and transport phenomena.
Register was elected to several University committees early in his tenure, and found himself stepping into leadership roles as his career progressed. He has served Princeton as a member of six different standing faculty committees, including seven-plus years on the Committee on Committees and five years on the Faculty Committee on the Graduate School.
“I knew that each of these committees did important work for the University, but what I didn’t appreciate beforehand was how much I would learn from serving on these committees,” Register said. “Those experiences enriched my appreciation for Princeton, and were particularly helpful later on, when I served in other roles where I worked with faculty and staff across campus.”
“It’s a real honor to be chosen for this award, when there are so many other deserving candidates,” he added.
Alongside his teaching responsibilities, Register served as director of the Princeton Center for Complex Materials from 2005-08, chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering from 2008-16, and director of graduate studies for chemical engineering and chemical and biological engineering from 1998 to 2003 and 2020 to 2021, respectively.
Christos Maravelias, the Anderson Family Professor in Energy and the Environment and chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, noted Register’s consistent ability to go above and beyond his call of duty.
“Simply put, Rick has been an extraordinary University citizen,” Maravelias said. “In addition to the major leadership roles he has held and the numerous committees he has served in, he is also always willing to help with all sorts of departmental tasks — from enthusiastically participating in student recruiting to consistently attending faculty meetings.”
Register is the author of more than 200 journal articles. He is a fellow of the American Chemical Society, American Physical Society and American Institute of Chemical Engineers, which awarded him the Charles M.A. Stine Award in 2002. At Princeton, he received the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s inaugural Distinguished Service Award in 2023 and its Distinguished Teacher Award in 2018. He was also recognized with the Graduate Mentoring Award in 2008.
This is an excerpt of the original article published on the Dean of the Faculty home page.
