The UCR Emeriti Association has named historian Robert Patch and computer engineer Laxmi Bhuyan as the recipients of the 2025 Distinguished Emeriti Awards.
The awards are given annually to one or more retired faculty members who have set a high standard of achievement in research, teaching, or serving since they retired. This year’s recipients were honored and presented with plaques at the UCR Emeriti and Retirees' Associations, or UCREA AND UCRRA, Feb. 6 winter luncheon.
Patch, a professor of history emeritus, has continued his research of colonial Latin America, focusing on the Spanish Empire and Mayan civilization, since his retirement five years ago. He researched and wrote a recently published book, “An Outpost of Colonialism: The Hispanic Community of Merida, Yucatan, 1690-1730.”
He taught at UCR starting in 1988 and held the posts of history department chair and director of UC Abroad.
Bhuyan, a distinguished professor emeritus in computer science and engineering, has continued to mentor and publish work in his field. Since his retirement in 2021, he has directed the research of graduate students at UCR as well as in India.
He is a former department chair. The Laxmi N. Bhuyan Endowed Fellowship in Computer Science was established in his name following his retirement.
UCRRA also honored students at its winter luncheon, selecting four outstanding undergraduate scholars:
• Citlati Campus, who is majoring in physics and planning a career in medical physics, has maintained a 3.89 grade point average and served as a science ambassador and school tutor.
• Izzy Graham, who excelled academically in her first year and is exploring her major options.
• Zoe Minter, a political science major who transferred from Riverside City College with two associate degrees and received the college’s Gold Service Award for her community service.
• Lauren Williams, an education and liberal studies major who transferred from Riverside City College, who wants to become a special education teacher and works as an instructional aide at a local high school supporting students with learning disabilities.
Each student received a certificate and financial award from the UCR Retirees’ Association Scholarship Endowment, with a total of $15,000 awarded in various amounts.
Finally, UCREA honored the two recipients of its Graduate Student Travel Awards, who were selected last fall and will receive financial support for their upcoming trips. They are:
• Tzu-Chia Chen, a doctoral student in entomology. She will travel in June to Sequoia National Park to collect specimens for her study of the systematics, ecology, and speciation of subterranean termites in California.
• John Hoang, a doctoral student in toxicology, who will present at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Europe 36th Annual Meeting in Maastricht, Netherlands, in May.