Three Swanson School Faculty Receive Chancellor’s Distinguished Awards

Originally published in Pittwire. Reposted with permission.

Three Swanson School of Engineering are among 16 Pitt faculty members who have earned the 2026 Chancellor’s Distinguished Awards for exemplifying excellence in public service, research and teaching.

Each honoree will receive a $2,000 cash prize and a $3,000 grant to support their work and will be recognized at the Faculty Honors Convocation on March 31 in Alumni Hall.

Brandon Grainger
Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Teaching
Recognized for his “commitment to surveying the top electric‑power engineering programs globally” to improve the Department of Electrical and Computing Engineering’s curriculum and service as director of the Electric Power Technologies Laboratory, associate director of the Energy GRID Institute and co‑director of the Advanced Magnetics for Power and Energy Development Consortium.

Robert Kerestes
Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Teaching
Recognized for co-leading a modernization of the Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Program and advancing “generative artificial intelligence literacy and pedagogy across the Swanson School.”

Sylvanus Wosu
Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Public Service
Recognized for founding PITT STRIVE, a National Science Foundation-funded program supporting underrepresented engineering students, and co‑founding Kanmas Educational Support Center Inc., which has led to an average of 65% improvement in state proficiency in math and reading among more than 1,000 students.

‘;