Three distinguished NDSU faculty members have been awarded endowed professorships. They include:
• Marisol Berti, professor of plant sciences, received the Jordan A. Engberg Presidential Professorship.
• Jessica Jensen, associate professor and head of emergency management, was selected to receive the Walter F. and Verna Gehrts Presidential Professorship.
• Sanku Mallik, professor of pharmaceutical sciences, received the Dale Hogoboom Presidential Professorship.
The recipients will be recognized during the annual NDSU Celebration of Faculty Excellence, scheduled for Thursday, May 11, 2023, at 3 p.m. in the Memorial Union’s Anishinaabe Theater.
“Endowed Professorship Awards are given to faculty members who have an outstanding record in all areas of faculty work – teaching, research and service,” said Vice Provost Canan Bilen-Green, who oversees campus wide faculty awards. “This year more than 30 faculty were nominated for an endowed professorship. The selections were made by the NDSU Faculty Awards and Recognition Committee.”
The Engberg and Hogoboom professorships are awarded to faculty at the rank of professor with at least eight years of service to NDSU. The Gerhts professorship is for faculty at the associate professor rank with at least five years of service. Each recipient will receive a stipend of $6,500 for expenditures related to their academic endeavors for each of the next two years.
Marisol Berti
Berti is widely recognized for her forage and biomass production research for feed and biofuels. She has been affiliated with 36 grants, totaling more than $23 million. Berti has published 93 peer-reviewed articles, eight books, three book chapters and has given over 200 presentations.
She was nominated by Jiajia Rao, associate professor of plant sciences.
“Dr. Berti is well-known and recognized nationally as a forage scientist and is frequently invited to speak at conferences and symposia. She has chaired the Forages and Grazinglands Division of the Crop Science Society of America and has been member of the CSSA board of directors,” Rao said, noting she also serves on the administrative council’s executive committee of the North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education and she is a board member of the Midwest Cover Crops Council and the Midwest Forage Association.
“Dr. Berti is truly a great instructor and an outstanding scientist, committed to serve her students, department, college, university and profession,” Rao said.
Berti, who joined the NDSU faculty in 2009, earned her bachelor’s degree at P. Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; and her master’s degree in crop production and doctorate in plant sciences at NDSU.
Jessica Jensen
Jensen is nationally recognized for her outstanding teaching, research and service. She received the 2019 B. Wayne Blanchard Award for Excellence in Emergency Management Education and FEMA’s 2022 Emergency Management Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award.
She was nominated by Daniel Klenow, professor emeritus in the Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science.
“Professor Jessica Jensen has distinguished herself at an extraordinary level in our core missions of teaching, research and service,” Klenow said. “This has been accomplished with her recognized teaching, research and service on campus, but also at the national and international level.”
At NDSU, Jensen has taught 16 different courses across 33 graduate sections and 26 undergraduate sections. She designed or restructured many of the department’s courses and the structure of degrees.
She has 21 refereed journal articles, as well as two refereed book chapters and more than 20 technical reports.
Jensen joined the NDSU faculty in 2016. She earned her bachelor’s degree at California State University Northridge, and her master’s degree and doctorate in emergency management from NDSU.
Sanku Mallik
NDSU students regularly rank Mallik among the best teachers in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He received the Teacher of the Year Award in 2021 and was a finalist seven times from 2012 to 2020.
He has an extensive record of service. Mallik has chaired the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Promotion and Tenure Committee. He served on the College of Health Professions PTE Committee, Doctor of Pharmacy Admissions Committee, College Faculty Awards Committee and School of Pharmacy Assessment Committee.
“Dr. Mallik has an outstanding record of scholarship, high-quality teaching and service to the profession,” said nominator Charles Peterson, professor and dean of the NDSU College of Health Professions.
“Dr. Mallik’s record of research productivity is exemplary. He has published 124 peer-reviewed articles in high-impact journals, including the highest ranked journals in his fields of expertise,” Peterson said, noting Mallik also has published 10 book chapters, more than 40 abstracts or conference proceedings and holds five patents.
Mallik came to NDSU in 2006. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India; and doctorate in organic chemistry from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. He had a post-doctoral post at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.
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