June, 2006

York University honoured Professor Arjomandi with the title of University Professor at the June 2006 Science and Engineering convocation ceremony.

University Professor is a prestigious title bestowed upon a maximum of twenty active faculty members. Currently there are just 7 University Professors and another 22 University Professor Emeritus.

The University defines the criteria for a University Professor as follows:

"A University Professor will be a long-serving tenured faculty member who has made an extraordinary contribution to the University as a colleague, teacher and scholar. Such achievement fulfills the following requirements:                               

1. significant long-term contribution to the development or growth of the University or of its parts;
2. significant participation in the collegium through mentorship, service and/or governance;
3. sustained impact over time on the University's teaching mission;
4. recognition as a scholar."

Professor Arjomandi has served the University as Chair of the Department and as Associate Dean of the Faculty. She has played a pivotal role in the development of the Department, guiding it from a small unit housed in the Faculty of Arts to its current home in the Faculty of Science and Engineering; from being primarily teaching oriented to a strongly research-oriented Department; from about 15 faculty members to (now) some 37 faculty members.

She has also contributed immensely to the development of the Faculty of Science and Engineering during her term as Associate Dean.

More recently Eshrat has taken a lead role in activities aimed at reversing declining trends in the participation of women in computer science and engineering. She has helped attract funds to initiate Women in Computer Science and Engineering (WiCSE) which provides a supportive environment for women - undergraduate, graduate and faculty - within the Department, as well as aiming to influence the educational choices of young women in the high schools and earlier.