Book Dedications
intro
The university’s core missions focus on promoting learning and discovery. The College of Engineering’s book dedication initiative provides a way to capture the multiple dimensions of the learning and discovery experienced by our own faculty members as they progress through their careers.
When faculty members are promoted to a new faculty rank, the College invites them to select a book that has had a profound effect on them as scholars and as human beings. The book may be, but need not be, related to their research or area of expertise. All selected titles are added to the UIC Library’s collection bearing a bookplate that recognizes the faculty member and explains his or her motivation for choosing the book.
We hope this initiative will allow members of the UIC community to benefit from works that have helped our faculty members along their professional and personal trajectory. Books dedicated to date are listed below by academic year. (Note: the most recent year of promotions may be pending approval by the UIC Board of Trustees.)
Faculty Book Selections
2024
Pai-Yen Chen
Stories of Your Life and OthersLinear Operator Methods in Chemical Engineering With Applications to Transport and Chemical Reaction Systems by Ted Chiang
This book piqued my curiosity about the intricate and entangled relationship between science and humanity. It has had a profound impact on my thinking about science, technology, philosophy and religion, as well as the inescapable interactions between them.
Matthew Daly
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
As faculty members, we are trained to question everything. The main themes of this novel (totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and control of thought) provide an important cautionary narrative that I have always felt reinforces the importance of our role to society.
Aslihan Karatas
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
A great example of Turkish contemporary writers, makes it special from a Nobel-literature author.
Joseph Schulenberg
An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering by Holz, Kovacs, Sheahan
When I first was learning about Geotechnical Engineering, I combed through the stacks to find a book that made sense. Holtz and Kovacs was my go to reference.
Jonathan Komperda
Boundary-Layer Theory by Hermann Schlichting
Boundary layer theory is a legendary book in fluid mechanics. I have three copies of different editions and I hope that future generations will have access to this rare book to help them with their PhD and research.
Hossein Ataei
Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings by Abolqasem Ferdowsi
Shahnameh by Ferdowsi (940 – 1020 AD) is among the greatest works of world literature: The stories of the kings, the people, the heroes, the righteous and the evil, and the strive and struggles of the humans within, deeply embedded in ancient Persian culture and civilization, and among the most influential to the later works of the world literature legends: Rumi and Hafez.
Natalie Parde
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R Hofstadter
I read this as an undergrad and it was an early spark to my interest in AI! I loved the blend of music, art, literature, and mathematics, and I’d love to reread it now with renewed perspective.
Hulya Seferoglu
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
After reading these books, I was amazed by and appreciated the extent of human imagination.
2022-2023
Meenesh Singh
Linear Operator Methods in Chemical Engineering With Applications to Transport and Chemical Reaction Systems by Doraiswami Ramkrishna and Neal Amundson
Linear algebra has been central to understanding concepts in several chemical engineering courses. While there are other books on linear algebra, this one takes the application of linear algebra in chemical engineering to the next level. Linear operators appear in mathematical descriptions of many physical problems in heat transfer, mass transfer and momentum transfer. The behavior (or solution) of these physical problems greatly depends on the properties of linear operators. This book provides a detailed account of linear operator theory and its application in chemical engineering. My understanding in chemical engineering was deepened after reading this book.
Sybil Derrible
The Man Who Planted Trees by author Jean Giono
I read this short story at least once a year. It does not take more than fifteen minutes to read. The story is about planting trees, but I think it also applies to faculty planting ideas. Elzéard Bouffier brings me energy and hope and “… I am convinced that in spite of everything, humanity is admirable.”
Patrick Lynch
Dune by Author Frank Herbert
I enjoy a lot of the themes of this book and its sequels.
Mark Hallenbeck
Meditations – series of personal writings by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius.
As a young man, I met a historian from Oxford University who gave a lecture on the Meditations. It profoundly changed the trajectory of my life. I realized the transformative power of education.
Elena Zheleva
The Book of Why by author Judea Pearl
Distinguishing between causal relationships and correlations is central to scientific inquiry and artificial intelligence. This book provides an easily accessible introduction to the topic of causal inference by Turing award-winning computer scientist and statistician Judea Pearl.
Zhinan Wang
Ayn Rand and the World She Made by Anne Conover Heller
This biography is not only a list of facts about Ayn Rand’s life. It revealed the subtle links behind many of her blockbuster novels. It also showed readers how Ayn Rand, as an author and philosopher, could knit good and evil together in her creative yet struggling life.
2021-2022
Mojtaba Soltanalian
Matsushita Leadership: Lessons from the 20th Century’s Most Remarkable Entrepreneur by Kotter, John P.
An inspirational story that deeply resonated with me and showed me a path of perseverance to success in times of hardship.
Sushant Anand
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna published by Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Centre.
For teaching me the meaning of love, truth, humility, life, and the nature of the self. Thanks!
Anthony E. Felder
The Lord of The Rings by author Tolkien
Few stories continue to capture my imagination and interest like this. Whenever I think I’m quite ready for another adventure, this is the one for me.
G. Elisabeta Marai
Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky, Ursula K. Le Guin
Roadside Picnic is a tiny “first-contact” philosophical sci-fi novel that punches so much above its weight. It’s as much a commentary about science—the human scientists can’t figure out the principles behind the alien artifacts—as it is about how flawed humanity is. It could easily turn sarcastic, but instead, it finds compassion, courage, and hope. Moreover, as Ursula Le Guin noted, it was written under censorship, and yet the authors wrote “as if they were indifferent to ideology […]. They wrote as free men write”. I brought my copy to the States along with living essentials.
Jason Polakis
The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa
A captivating exploration of humanity’s most enduring questions that paints a unique introspective journey of one’s inner psyche and insecurities. Truly a unique worldview and literary voice, captured in the most beautiful and meticulous prose.
Craig Foster
The Tower and the Bridge: The New Art of Structural Engineering published by Princeton University Press
This is the book that first inspired me in civil engineering, examining structural forms in technological, social, symbolic, and aesthetic terms. It reveals the links of scientific rigor and creativity in the creation of a unique type of art.
Amit Ranjan Trivedi
Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality by author Max Tegmark
This book combines three of my favorite topics: space, mathematics, and mysteries. Besides being incredibly entertaining and informative, the book helped me develop a new detective-like perspective to my research. It showed how you can really reach to the “stars” even with limited means. It also affirmed my belief that mathematics is the only true language of the universe.
Salman Khetani
The 7 habits of highly effective people by Steven R Covey
In this book, Dr. Covey discusses timeless habits that are essential for happiness and success in both personal and professional circles. It is a great read for anyone who wants to live an effective life.
Cornelia Caragea
Predictably Irrational by Harper Perennia
Very inspirational book. Influential book.
Jamison Szwalek
An Album of Fluid Motion by Milton Van Dyke
This book inspired me to pursue experimental fluid dynamics.
Sangil Kim
The Future Is Faster Than You Think by Peter H. Diamandis
This book is a good mind opener to what’s happening and about to happen in the world of technology (transportation, education, AI, longevity, etc.).
Subramanian Sankaranarayanan
Crucial Conversations by Grenny, Macmillan and Switzeler
This book provides several interesting examples of reaching mutually agreeable solutions through dialogue in difficult situations. The book demonstrates how to blend I.Q with E.Q to achieve a new level of bonding with the people around you.
Parisa Mirbod
Hafez Stories From Shahnameh of Ferdos
This book is one of the most famous books in Iran. Long story short, a romance book in poem.
Lin Li
Sustainable Manufacturing Systems: An Energy Perspective by authors Lin Li and MengChu Zhou
My first book summarizing my research achievements in Sustainable Manufacturing Systems since joining UIC.
Yang Dai
Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (Pearson Series in Artifical Intelligence), 4th Edition by authors Stuart Russell & Peter Norvig
It is most helpful to know the history of a field. This is THE book that can serve as an intellectual anchor when exploring various aspects of AI.
Ming Wu
Outliers: The Story of Success by author Malcolm Gladwell
“Outliers” is very enjoyable book. It offers some interesting perspectives about what makes some people more successful than others. I read this book several years ago. It did have an influence on my understanding of how to be more successful in my academic career.
Santanu Chaudhuri
Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief by David Kessler
During the year of pandemic, we lost many loved ones. Understanding life and celebrating life of family members needed this amazing book. The book discusses how to handle grief and life by finding meaning. Grief due to loss of someone near is all too common in the time of the pandemic. It is an enormously helpful book for coping with loss. He touches all kinds of grief and comes to a positive space in helping people with making sense of it all.
2020-2021
Betul Bilgin
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
I am always amazed by how our brains work, how we decide, and why we make the choices that we make. This book was one of my first reads on that topic. Kahneman helped me to uncover how my and others’ minds work.
Ian Kash
The Accidental Theorist and Other Dispatches from the Dismal Science by Paul Krugman
This book influenced my career twice. It served as my introduction to economic thinking and later provided an introduction to the story of the Capitol Hill Babysitting Co-op, which provided an accessible example for my dissertation.
Ying Liu
Fermat’s Last Theorem by Author Simon Singh
Math and the stories about the mathematicians are beautiful, romantic, and entertaining. Curiosity and passion are the driving forces for great discoveries.
Didem Ozevin
Poems of Nazim Hikmet published by Persea
I grew up reading Nazim’s poems, listening songs with lyrics from his poems, and watching his playwrights in theaters. His views influenced my entire life.
Shanon Reckinger
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
When I read this as a young girl, I related to the protagonist Francie Nolan. This book and the memoir “Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls have deepened my perspective on life.
Renata A. Revelo
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire, translated by Myra Bergman Ramos
I read this book too late in my life, as a graduate student. It changed my life perspective as an educator and as an engineer.
Xinhua Zhang
Learning with Kernels: Support Vector Machines, Regularization, Optimization, and Beyond published by The MIT Press
Two brave fresh Ph.D. graduates overturned the then dominating approach of machine learning into a completely new paradigm that is globally optimizable and theoretically analyzable. It demonstrated how to think out of the box and adhere to one’s belief.
books
Hossein Ataei
The Masnavi I Ma’navi of Rumi, translated by E. H. Whinfield
Whether we call this book a Sea of Wisdom (Bahr-e Ma’navi or Darya-ye Hekmat in Persian)—a title used by scholars throughout the centuries who dedicated their lives to study and explore the meaning of life and the hidden spiritual treasures within Rumi’s teachings and poetry—or a Shop for Unity (Dokaan-e Vahdat), as Rumi himself calls it, this is undoubtedly a masterpiece that provides precise and delicate insights into the spiritual growth and self-awareness of all humans, free and unbound by constraints due to differences in their faith, race, color, or gender, but rather united in love as “truth-seeking and bright mirrors that reflect and shine back the glory of the Almighty God.”
Pai-Yen Chen
Exhalation, by Ted Chiang
This book piqued my curiosity about the relation between science and humanity, further inspiring me to explore infinite possibilities in the universe. Each story has a philosophical premise, fully of revelatory ideas and deeply sympathetic characters.
Houshang Darabi
Breakthrough Thinking, by Gerald Nadler and Shozo Hibino
I read this book when I was an undergraduate student. The seven steps of problem solving outlined in this book are very practical and context-independent. I have used them in my personal and professional life.
Natasha Devroye
The BFG, by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake
This book—like all of wonderful Roald Dahl’s books that I have thoroughly enjoyed since childhood—is full of imagination, humor, and simple, brilliant writing. Just perfect.
Arunkumar Subramanian
Cosmos, by Carl Sagan
Beyond the contents for which this book is highly regarded, it taught me interesting new avenues for introducing and teaching complex scientific topics to both an academic and non-academic audience.
Yayue Pan
Atomic Habits, by James Clear
“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.” Good habits can make life happier and success easier. This book teaches us concrete action steps to build, change, or dismantle habits.
Hulya Seferoglu
The Black Book, by Orhan Pamuk, translated by Maureen Freely
I read many books, and my whole life was changed.
Jie Xu
A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking
This book made me realize how vast the universe is, and how bizarre the reality can be. Our existence seems trivial, yet our minds reach beyond the universe.
Alan Zdunek
The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
I chose this book because it has provided inspiration in my life and career. It is an uplifting story filled with wisdom about searching for one’s personal calling while overcoming the obstacles that inevitably occur along the way. It taught me to listen closely to my inner self as I have journeyed through life, and to remember, as Coelho says, that “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
books
Vikas Berry
The Law of Success In Sixteen Lessons, by Napoleon Hill
This book taught me the importance of clearly defining goals for all important undertakings and always pursuing excellence, which has helped me in my research work. Further, it taught me to try to create opportunities if none are apparent. This has helped me keep an optimistic frame of mind.
Sheng-Wei Chi
Fail Fast, Fail Often: How Losing Can Help You Win, by Ryan Babineaux and John Krumboltz
Learning from failure provides the way to success. When getting older, we tend to be too cautious to fail and to learn new things. This book helps to conquer the fear of failing.
Hananeh Esmailbeigi
The Complete Book of Ghazals of Hafez, edited by Sajjad Khojasteh
From Hafez’s poems, I learned many life lessons, including my first engineering lesson—optimization! I realized how a short verse of his poems so elegantly optimizes word arrangements to convey deep messages.
Hamed Hatami-Marbini
The Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa’di, edited by Shaykh Mushrifuddin Sa’di of Shiraz, translated by Wheeler M. Thackston
“Be either gracious like the date tree or free like the cedar.” The exhilarating stories of this book combine the nectar of elegance with the bitter medicine of advice.
Andrew Johnson
Connections, by James Burke
I read James Burke’s book while in middle school. It showed an interconnected version of history and innovation very different from what I was taught, and I’m sure it led to the interdisciplinary focus in my research.
Chris Kanich
Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger
This book helped me understand the historical and human contexts of removal/deletion of information and capabilities that are central to my research. It also motivated my broader socio-technical focus within computer science research.
Dieter Klatt
Alfred & Agnes, by Frieda Stiehl
Frieda Stiehl tells the story of the life of her German immigrant parents, Alfred and Agnes, set against the backdrop of dramatic political and social events. The book illustrates that many developments in life are not only determined by personal decisions but also by historical events that are out of one’s own control. Alfred and Agnes are fortunate that Frieda has preserved the memory of their extraordinary lives in a compelling narration, while the memory of most persons is lost after the passing of the people who immediately knew them. While reading the book it occurred to me that I am pleased that my scientific contributions are documented in publications. But it also made me ask whether there is something else or more important that I want to be remembered for.
Jane Lin
Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom
Recently my 7-year-old son has been asking about death and expressing his fear of death. My answer to him was basically a paraphrase of what Professor Morrie Schwartz says in this book: “As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed as ignorant as you were at twenty-two, you’d always be twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It’s growth. It’s more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.”
Igor Paprotny
Tales of Pirx the Pilot, by Stanislaw Lem
Through the world of science fiction, this book opened my imagination to the endless possibilities that technology can create and how it can shape our future. The wonders I experienced reading this with my grandfather in what then was still communist Poland shaped my desire to become and engineer and then scientist working toward shaping that future. Lem is a masterful story teller, sending the reader on an unparalleled journey through the cosmos.
Reza Shahbazian-Yassar
The Complete Divan of Hafez, translated by Paul Smith
This book was like a torch showing me the path to success when lost in darkness. The spiritual poems in this book will help you to speak to your heart openly and see your overarching life objectives.
Vivek Sharma
New and Selected Poems of Thomas Lux: 1975-1995, by Thomas Lux
I belong to an extended family of poets (and a few scientists) who were transformed by the mentorship and generosity of Gurudev Thomas Lux. He taught me the importance of mastering your craft as a writer, the significance of meticulous rewrites and revisions, as well as how to read the published work both to educate and inspire oneself. I know I have become a better poet, a better writer, and a better scientist by paying attention to his advice and his way of reading, writing, being. Most importantly, I learned how to be a good teacher. I seek to help students like he did, and emulate the candid delight, that joyful grin, the open-armed, honest pleasure he took in the progress of his students.
Lucy Shi
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
This book taught me some essential values for life, in particular, hope and perseverance; trust and friendship.
Anastasios Sidiropoulos:
Using the Borsuk-Ulam Theorem: Lectures on Topological Methods in Combinatorics and Geometry, by Jiri Matousek
This book presents a surprising link between disparate areas of mathematics. It serves as a reminder that scientific discoveries can transcend classification.