Dr. Mohammad F. Kiani, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was recognized with the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching recently, as part of Temple's annual celebration of faculty achievement. The awards recognize faculty in the areas of teaching, service, creativity and research, and are the highest honors given to teachers and scholars at the university.

"Since coming to Temple in 2004, Dr. Kiani has been a true force at the College of Engineering, both as a talented researcher and educator who is fiercely dedicated to our students," said Keya Sadeghipour, Dean of the College of Engineering. "The honor is well-deserved."

"Aside from being recognized by your colleagues for your contributions, I hope that this award will encourage all of us to do more for our students," Dr. Kiani added. 

Dr. Kiani went on to recall an instance where, as a visiting professor in Rome in 2016, he met with someone who claimed they were a former student. At the meeting, the person made an admission.

"I remembered him as a former student in my Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics class when he was an exchange student at Temple in 2015," Dr. Kiani remembered. "He had driven two hours to thank me for teaching him the skills which allowed him to get an excellent engineering job in the highly competitive Italian job market. Those are the days when I realize I made the right decision of pursuing an academic career."

Another former student also echoed those sentiments. Owen Pearl, ENG, '20, now a PhD candidate at Carnegie Mellon University, described Dr. Kiani as someone who goes "above and beyond in each of his spheres of influence to make a difference in the world."

"By openly sharing his years of experience conducting ethical, impactful science, Dr. Kiani lifted the curtain off of the academic bubble and provided me with the very unique opportunity to observe and critique the state of the scientific world for myself," Pearl said. "As a nice bonus, the fellowship proposal I wrote in his class for the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship was later accepted and is now funding my research endeavors."

To learn more about the Lindback Award and view previous honorees, visit https://www.temple.edu/provost/faculty/awards/lindback.html.