CEEE Faculty Honored With Top University Awards

Two CEEE faculty members received top honors at the 2025-26 University of Maryland Faculty & Staff Convocation held in September at the university's Memorial Chapel.

Former CEEE Director Reinhard Radermacher was posthumously named a Distinguished University Professor. The highest appointment bestowed on a tenured faculty member, the title is conferred in recognition of extraordinary achievements as a teacher, scholar and public servant.

Radermacher (1952–2025) was an internationally recognized expert in energy conversion systems, specializing in heat pumps, air conditioners, refrigeration, and integrated cooling, heating, and power systems. During his 42 years at UMD, his scholarship generated over 600 publications, including three books. He consistently ranked in the top 2 percent of researchers worldwide based on the number of career-long citations of his work. Radermacher disclosed 150 inventions and had 17 U.S. patents granted, making him the most prolific inventor in UMD history. In 1991, he co-founded the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering to conduct pre-competitive research in sustainable heating and cooling solutions and to empower students with the tools to succeed in the workforce. A Fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), he chaired several ASHRAE committees and panels and was editor-in-chief of ASHRAE's Science and Technology for the Built Environment. In 2015, he received both the Institute of Refrigeration’s J&E Hall Gold Medal and the International Institute of Refrigeration’s Gustav Lorentzen Medal.

Read more about Reinhard Radermacher.

Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice and President Darryll J. Pines presented Yunho Hwang with a Provost's Excellence Award.

Research Professor Yunho Hwang received a University of Maryland Provost's Excellence Award for Professional Track Faculty. Hwang, director of CEEE’s Consortium for Energy Efficiency and Heat Pumps, was recognized for exemplary research contributions over his 32 years at the university.

Hwang is a globally recognized expert in energy efficiency and innovative energy conversion technologies within the refrigeration and air-conditioning field. In over three decades at the University of Maryland, he has secured more than $25 million in research funding, mentored 67 graduate students, and advised UMD student teams in national and international collegiate design competitions, guiding them to first- and second-place finishes. Prior to joining the faculty at Maryland, he worked as a senior researcher for Samsung Electronics. Over his career, Hwang has authored 396 publications and received 21 patents. He is among the top 1% most cited in his field (Web of Science, 2016) and ranks 9th worldwide in refrigeration research (ScholarGps.com, May 2025). An ASME and ASHRAE Fellow, he served as President of Commission B1 for the International Institute of Refrigeration and subject editor for Energy. In 2023, he received the prestigious Gustav Lorentzen Medal from the International Institute of Refrigeration.