Retirement Reception for Professor Dinesh O. Shah

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The Department of Chemical Engineering hosted a Retirement Reception in Professor Dinesh O. Shah's honor on Friday, April 22, 2005 at the Paramount Resort and Conference Center in Gainesville. Dr. Shah retired from the University of Florida after a distinguished academic career spanning 35 years. As a token of Dr. Shah's dedication to the University, the Department and his many students, a memory booklet of letters of appreciation and well wishes from his many colleagues and students was presented to him. Some of his former students, family and colleagues traveled from as far away as New York to pay tribute to Professor Shah. Someone once said, "None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up. We got here because somebody like a teacher or a parent bent down and helped pick us up." This is what some said about Dr. Shah. He has bent down and helped many of his students and their families through some very hard times. Some of his colleagues talked about their friendship and how much this friendship has meant to them. The Retirement Reception was enjoyed by all that attended. The one who enjoyed it the most was Dr. Shah himself. He will cherish this happy moment for many, many years. Dr. Shah will continue to supervise his current graduate students and continue his research at the University of Florida.

A Brief Review of Professor Shah’s Awards and Accomplishments

Dr. Dinesh O. Shah received his B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Bombay, India in 1959 and a PhD in Biophysics from Columbia University in 1965. He joined the University of Florida in 1970 with a joint appointment in the Chemical Engineering Department and in the Anesthesiology Department. He served as Chair of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Florida from 1987-1991. Dr. Shah has received numerous teaching, research and service awards, including the University of Florida Excellence in Teaching Award in 1972, the University of Florida President's Scholar Award in 1975, the University of Florida Outstanding Service Award in 1976, the University of Florida Teacher/Scholar of the Year Award from 1984-85 and the University of Florida President's Medallion for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship in 1985. These are just a few of his many awards and accomplishments.

Left to Right: Drs. Ranga Narayanan, Ramakant Srivastava and Cammy Abernathy

Left to Right: Drs. Dinesh Shah, Jerome Modell, Shirley Graves and Nick Benedetto

Dr. Jerome Modell

Dr. Dinesh Shah

Drs. Dinesh Shah and Jennifer Curtis

Dr. Pramod Khargonekar

Dr. Brij Moudgil