Yesilevskiy Named Shaw Endowed Professor

The College of Engineering & Computer Science has announced the hiring of Yevgeniy “Yev” Yesilevskiy as the Kenneth A. and Mary Ann Shaw Endowed Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurial Leadership.

The Shaw Endowed Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurial Leadership was generously established by Syracuse University Life Trustee William “Bill” F. Allyn G’59 and his wife, Janet “Penny” Jones Allyn ’60, in recognition of Chancellor Emeritus Kenneth A. “Buzz” Shaw and his wife, Mary Ann.

Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy

As the Shaw Endowed Professor, Yesilevskiy will be responsible for magnifying the college’s innovation mission—a key component of the college’s Transforming Our Future plan. His work will catalyze a campuswide community for design and prototyping through Engineering & Computer Science programs and partnerships within the entrepreneurship ecosystem at Syracuse University and across Central New York.

This includes leading the Invent@SU invention accelerators, teaching interdisciplinary project-based courses, facilitating student participation in regional and national innovation opportunities, leveraging innovation initiatives to build the K-12 pipeline, and aligning the college with a national innovation network.

Yesilevskiy joins SU from the University of Michigan, where he conducted research in the simultaneous optimization of gaits, motion and morphology on realistic simulations of monoped, biped and quadruped robots.

“We are exceptionally grateful for this generous endowment and excited to welcome Yev to our team,” says Engineering & Computer Science Dean Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg. “His work will augment our campuswide culture of innovation and honor the Shaw legacy at Syracuse University.”

Buzz Shaw served as Chancellor from 1991-2004. As a University Professor, he taught leadership at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He is an expert in board/president relationships, institutional change and CEO leadership. Shaw has written, and contributed to, many books and articles on leadership and higher education. In 2010, the Syracuse University Quad was dedicated in his honor, a reflection of his transformative role in making the University the thriving, high-impact institution it is today.

Mary Ann Shaw served Syracuse University by convening a cross-section of more than 100 campus and community members to establish what would become the Center for Public and Community Service. In 2004, the Board of Trustees honored her by renaming the center the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service. To this day, the Shaw Center coordinates impactful volunteer engagement activities that connect the Syracuse University community to our broader community through diverse literacy and service learning initiatives.