Professor Brezinsky named a University Scholar
Professor Kenneth Brezinsky has been selected as a University Scholar for 2024-2025. This prestigious award, which the Office of the President sponsors, was created to honor and reward outstanding faculty members who have demonstrated superior performance in scholarly activities in research and teaching and who show great promise for future achievements.
“Dr. Brezinsky has been an internationally recognized scholar and citizen of the MIE Department, the engineering college, and UIC, who brings recognition to the university, support for student education, opportunities for underserved and underrepresented students, and leadership in internationally recognized energy and propulsion science research programs,” MIE Professor and Department Head Houshang Darabi said.
Brezinsky has excelled on many fronts. As the director of the High-Pressure Shock Tube Lab, his research is focused on the experimental examination and the modeling simulation of the kinetics of combustion chemistry that takes place during the pyrolysis and oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels. The fuels are used by aircraft engines or ground transportation and are introduced into the high-pressure shock for experimental examination of reaction products and into the low-pressure shock tube when complementary studies are required.
He has received more than $22 million in government funding from more than 36 agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Army Research Office, and the Army Research Laboratory.
Additionally, he supervises seven doctoral students and one post-doctoral associate in his lab. Throughout its 27-year history, 15 students earned their PhDs, eight post-doctoral associates have been hosted, 22 students received master’s degrees, and 24 undergraduates conducted research under his direction.
Brezinsky received his BS degree in chemistry and a PhD in physical chemistry from the City College of New York. After finishing his graduate work, he joined the chemistry department of Brookhaven National Laboratory as a postdoctoral research associate. Since joining UIC In 1996, Brezinsky was appointed professor of chemical engineering, and in 2003 he assumed his current position as professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, where he has published more than two hundred publications and made more than one hundred seventy scientific presentations. He has served as the associate and deputy editor of the journal Combustion Science and Technology and has been recognized for his contribution to combustion science by his designation as an inaugural fellow of the Combustion Institute.