Professor to receive prestigious faculty award

Professor Shahrzad ‘Sherry’ Heidary will receive a prestigious faculty award at a national convention in Las Vegas.

CRANFORD — Union College Chemistry Professor Shahrzad “Sherry” Heidary will receive the Association of Community College Trustees 2023 Northeast Region Faculty Award.

Heidary will formally accept the award in October during the 54th annual Association of Community College Trustees Leadership Congress in Las Vegas.

By receiving the Northeast Region award, Heidary is eligible to receive the national William H. Meardy Faculty Member Award. The winner will also be named at the Leadership Congress in Las Vegas.

Heidary joined the college in 2006 as an adjunct instructor. During her time at the college, she has served as an advisor to the Student Government Association, American Honors Council and Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. Additionally, she serves as a trustee on the Union County College Foundation Board and as a board member of the YWCA of Union County. Heidary is highly present and visible on campus, goes above and beyond for students, and is extremely active in scholarship and fundraising endeavors. In fact, both of the college’s 2023 Jack Kent Cooke Foundation transfer scholarship recipients received the Professor Heidary scholarship to help fund the cost of attendance.

She has a bachelor’s degree in polymer engineering and a master’s degree in polymer science.

“We are very proud of professor Heidary. There is no one more deserving of this recognition. She is a master teacher and she loves her students. She goes above and beyond to help them excel in their classes. For a chemistry professor to be truly beloved, it is quite the feat. We count Professor Heidary among our most outstanding faculty at Union,” said Union College President Margaret M. McMenamin.

Photo Courtesy of Union College