Lansing, Mich. The third annual Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year Award recipients have been selected and three professors from Michigan’s 15 public universities have earned this honor. Higher education is one of the few good investments in these hard economic times,said Michael Boulus, Executive Director of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, We need to honor those who continue to contribute to its success and produce well prepared and intelligent graduates of Michigan's 15 public universities. These outstanding professors are actively involved in developing the minds of Michigan's future, and deserve recognition for their work.

 The Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year recognition program recognizes the outstanding contributions made by the faculty from Michigan’s public universities to the education of undergraduate students. Each of Michigan's 15 public universities were invited by the Presidents Council to nominate a faculty member who has had a significant impact on student learning through various mediums, including work in the classroom and student advising. One 2009 winner is:

• Dr. Erik Goodman (Michigan State University), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, helped establish MSU as a leader in ecological modeling. He has mentored Rhodes Scholarship and Churchill Scholarship recipients, as well as a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship recipient.

Dr. Goodman is the academic advisor for half of the honor students in the computer engineering major. He also teaches the senior capstone design course in Electrical and Computer Engineering where he introduced industrial sponsored projects with public presentations at ECE Design Day. He places emphasis on guiding students into undergraduate research experience, study abroad, and enrollment in graduate classes.

The Presidents Council will host an awards luncheon on May 14, 2009 at the Radisson Hotel in Lansing, Mich.