“These faculty members exemplify the highest ideals of a public research university,” says UConn Provost Pamir Alpay. “Their discoveries, scholarship, leadership, and dedication to students have advanced knowledge, improved lives, and strengthened communities in Connecticut and around the world. They represent the extraordinary impact that UConn faculty make every day.”<\/p>\n
The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor designation was established in 1998 and is reserved for faculty who have achieved exceptional distinction in scholarship, teaching, and service during their careers at UConn.<\/p>\n
Dr. Bruce T. Liang\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Dean, School of Medicine<\/p>\n Ray Neag Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine<\/p>\n Dr. Bruce T. Liang is a preeminent cardiologist, educator, and healthcare leader who has had profound impacts in research, medical education, and public health.<\/p>\n In research, Dr. Liang has made enduring contributions to the field of ischemic vascular disease, which prevents sufficient blood from reaching the heart, brain, and other vital organs. For example, he developed a biomarker that assesses the extent of ischemic injury and the effectiveness of treatments designed to prevent or reduce that damage. He also developed a new anti-inflammatory approach to therapeutics for stroke and for heart attack. Dr. Liang has been awarded 18 U.S. and foreign patents for his discoveries, some of which have formed the basis for a UConn startup company, Provascor, which has been funded by private funds and Connecticut Innovations.<\/p>\n Dr. Liang has served Ray Neag Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine since 2002 and has held leadership positions of increasing responsibility at UConn Health, including Director of the Pat and Jim Calhoun Center for Cardiology, Dean of the Medical School, and Interim CEO. Under his leadership, the School of Medicine (SOM) transitioned from a lecture-based curriculum to a team-based learning approach, which has improved educational outcomes for students, strengthened the school as a whole, and is serving as a model for other medical schools.\u00a0 As dean, Dr. Liang led the expansion of the school from 80 to 114 students to address the state’s need for more physicians and surgeons and increased the clinical and research faculty by more than one-third. Dr. Liang also oversaw the expansion of the graduate medical residency program 654 to 775 doctors and the fellowship programs from 58 to 82 between FY16 and FY25. The school now ranks in the top 10% of all U.S. schools as a sponsor of graduate medical education.<\/p>\n In public service, Dr. Liang has helped shape policy and influence major initiatives that have strengthened the Connecticut’s ability to offer quality health care to all its citizens. During the pandemic year of 2020, Dr. Liang served on the Advisory Committee to the State of Connecticut on a risk-based strategy for its Covid-19 response. He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice to the State of Connecticut Commissioner of Public Health.<\/p>\n In addition to his research, teaching, and leadership roles, Dr. Liang is an active clinician who has personally cared for thousands of patients suffering from heart disease and has saved numerous lives.<\/p>\n Dr. Liang received his B.A. and M.D. degrees from Harvard University. He completed his medical residency in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and his clinical fellowship in Cardiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital concurrently with a research fellowship in Medicine at the Harvard University Medical School.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dr. Jeffrey Ogbar\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Professor of History, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences<\/p>\n Founding Director, Center for the Study of Popular Music<\/p>\n Dr. Jeffrey Ogbar is one of the nation\u2019s most accomplished scholars of African American history and Black social movements. After earning a BA from Morehouse College and a Ph.D. from Indiana University, he arrived at UConn\u2019s Department of History in 1997. He has since made indelible contributions to the University\u2019s administrative and academic arenas. His award-winning body of scholarship has had a transformative impact on the ways we understand race, resistance, and identity in the modern United States. He is the author of four monographs, four edited books, and over two dozen book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles.<\/p>\n Following a fellowship at Harvard University\u2019s W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute, Dr. Ogbar published his first monograph, Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identit<\/em>y (Johns Hopkins University Press), a widely-cited and seminal text that analyzes the ideological diversity within Black Power politics. His monograph, Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap<\/em> (University Press of Kansas), received the W.E.B. Du Bois Book Prize. Frequently assigned in universities, it is considered one of the top ten books on the history of hip-hop by the world\u2019s leading hip-hop magazine, The Source<\/em>.\u00a0 His recent monograph, America\u2019s Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy<\/em> (Basic Books), was named one of the \u201cBest Books of 2023″ by Publishers Weekly<\/em>, won the Georgia History Archives Award for 2024, and was a finalist for the 2024 Book Prize from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. His 2026 book, Land of Our Own<\/em>: Malcolm X and the Evolution of Black Nationalism<\/em> (Polity), will be released this summer.<\/p>\n Dr. Ogbar’s teaching links scholarship with social understanding to inspire students to see themselves as active participants in the creation of knowledge. In graduate teaching, Dr. Ogbar’s courses explore the intersections between historical scholarship and contemporary social theory to help students develop the critical and methodological tools for original research. He has served as a major advisor for four doctoral students and a member of over 20 dissertation committees across departments.<\/p>\n For over a quarter-century, Dr. Ogbar has served UConn in numerous leadership capacities. As the Director of the Institute for African American Studies, he led the creation of the University\u2019s first major and minor in the field. After serving as Associate Dean in CLAS, he was appointed Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer. In this position, he advanced university-wide initiatives to improve access, equity, and student success, including efforts to support the retention and achievement of first-generation students. He later established the Center for the Study of Popular Music, which, among other programming, brings visiting scholars and artists to campus. He is a former two-term President of the AAUP and received the Provost\u2019s Outstanding Service Award in 2021 in recognition of his exceptional service record to the University.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Rebecca Puhl<\/strong><\/p>\n Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences<\/p>\n Deputy Director, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health<\/p>\n Dr. Rebecca Puhl, Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut, is an internationally recognized leader in research on weight stigma, bias, and discrimination. She is widely regarded as the world\u2019s leading expert on the social and health consequences of stigma towards youth and adults with obesity. Her scholarship has transformed scientific understanding of how weight-based mistreatment affects physical health, mental health, healthcare quality, and social equity, while also identifying effective strategies to reduce discrimination and improve patient care.<\/p>\n A highly prolific and influential scholar, Dr. Puhl has authored 220+ peer reviewed articles, 24 book chapters, an edited book, and over 200 conference presentations and 15 keynote addresses. Her work has been cited over 50,000 times, earning her an h-Index of 93 and recognition on Clarivate\u2019s World\u2019s Highly Cited Researchers List. She earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Queen\u2019s University in Ontario, Canada, her M.S. M.Phil., and Ph.D. in Psychology and Clinical Psychology from Yale University.<\/p>\n A dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Puhl teaches undergraduate and graduate courses that train students in professional communication and deepen their understanding of the complex factors underlying bullying, victimization, and stigma. Her graduate students and post-doctoral fellows have earned prestigious honors and national awards, and she serves as a valued mentor to numerous junior faculty at universities across the country. Her recently launched online educational training resource equips healthcare trainees and clinicians with evidence-based tools to provide supportive obesity care and has been used by medical professionals in 140 countries.<\/p>\n Dr. Puhl\u2019s research has had far-reaching impact beyond academia. Her foundational work has been instrumental in reframing obesity stigma as a major public health concern and has informed clinical practice guidelines, public policy, and media portrayals of obesity. She co-authored the first global consensus statement to eliminate obesity stigma, published in Nature Medicine,<\/em> and the first national policy statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics on the impact of weight stigma on youth with obesity. She has led national and international efforts to promote more supportive, evidence-based patient care, providing expertise to organizations such as the World Obesity Federation, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the American Medical Association, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.<\/p>\n Dr. Puhl has played a vital role in informing U.S. policy, advising legislators across the United States on anti- discrimination legislation, testifying at state hearings, and contributing to national and international policy reports. Since joining UConn in 2015, Dr. Puhl has made more than 3,600 media appearances, bringing national attention to the harmful effects of weight discrimination and advancing more evidence-based and compassionate public discourse. Through her scholarship, mentorship, and public engagement, Dr. Puhl has elevated UConn\u2019s national and international profile while transforming how researchers, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public understand and address weight stigma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor designation recognizes extraordinary achievement in scholarship, teaching, and service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":247704,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2226,2460,259,1868,92,179,2225,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1902],"class_list":["post-247700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clas","category-faculty","category-rudd-center","category-meds","category-uconn-hartford","category-uconn-health","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 21:40:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247700"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247731,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247700\/revisions\/247731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/247704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247700"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=247700"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=247700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Liang-300x204.jpg\")
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