Suzanne Kresta wins Killam Annual Professorship for excellence in teaching, research and service

Edmonton—An engineering professor known for her dedication to teaching has won a prestigious award that recognizes achievements in teaching, scholarship and service.

Suzanne Kresta, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, has been awarded a prestigious Killam Annual Professorship. The designation is bestowed on leading U of A professors who excel in teaching, research and service.

“It’s a real honour to win this award because it’s balanced—it recognizes people who have managed to do all three things well,” said Kresta.

Kresta is the recipient of numerous teaching awards. She serves on the U of A’s Centre for Teaching and Learning advisory committee and works as a peer consultant for the centre, working with professors across campus to help develop more effective teaching habits.

In her life as a researcher, Kresta focuses on mixing—she is the past president of the North American Mixing Forum and is author of the textbook ‘The Handbook of Industrial Mixing’. Referred to as ‘The Big Blue Bible’ of mixing, the text has radically changed the way mixing is communicated.

The NAMF recently assembled a list of the 21 most influential contributions to mixing—and two of Kresta’s research papers made the list. She also played a leadership role in developing a fundamental definition for the science of mixing, which has been embraced by the research community.

Winning the Killam Annual Professorship “allows me to connect with other great academics across campus,” she said. “For me, there is value in it not only in recognition of a balanced academic lifestyle but also in the community of like-minded people we are building. This opens doors and possibilities.”

Kresta is a previous recipient of the A.C. Rutherford Award for Excellence in Teaching—the highest teaching honour the university bestows upon its professors—and earlier this year was named Academic Woman of the Year by the U of A Academic Women’s Association.