IACS research advisee Zain Zaidi among 14 SBU Students Honored with SUNY Chancellor’s Awards

Zain Zaidi, an undergraduate chemistry major conducting research with Benjamin Levine, Professor and IACS Endowed Chair in Chemistry, and Dr. Arshad Mehmood, IACS Senior Research Scientist, is one of fourteen Stony Brook University Students receiving SUNY Chancellor’s Awards this year. The outstanding Stony Brook University seniors were among the 193 students recognized with the 2025 Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence (CASE) — the State University of New York’s highest honor bestowed on a student.

From Coppell, TX, and specializing in chemical physics, Zaidi is also a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar and a national conference presenter. He serves on the executive board of the Society of Physics Students, earning national recognition for the chapter.

The award celebrates academic excellence, leadership, campus involvement, community service and creative or performing arts. This year’s honorees were celebrated during an awards ceremony on April 29 in Albany, New York.

“To this year’s awardees, I extend my heartfelt congratulations. Today, we honor you with the highest recognition given to a SUNY student, acknowledging your dedication and your excellence,” said SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. “We are proud of all that you have achieved here at SUNY. We are rooting for your future success.”

The 2025 recipients include veterans, parents, policy advocates and student leaders. Each SUNY campus is eligible to nominate a select number of students based on enrollment size, and honorees are chosen by a systemwide selection committee.

Delivering the keynote at the CASE celebration was Derek Peterson, a Stony Brook University alumnus and CEO of Soter Technologies, who emphasized the importance of resilience and innovation. “Congratulations to the CASE awardees. This award is only the beginning of more to come. Continue to shine bright and be the difference maker.”

The SUNY Board of Trustees commended the students: “Each year we look forward to celebrating CASE awardees and thanking these inspirational role models from across our SUNY colleges and universities. On behalf of the SUNY community, we are grateful for your leadership on campus, and we offer our best wishes for what comes next.”

- Excerpted from SBU News, posted 4/30/25 – full article here