Banerjee Recipient of UNL Faculty Excellence Award

Ruma Banerjee, assistant professor of biochemistry at UNL, is the recipient of the 1995 Agricultural Research Division's Junior Faculty for Excellence in Research Award.

Banerjee was honored during a Feb. 6 reception at the UNL East Union, said Darrell Nelson, dean and director of ARD. She will receive a certificate and plaque along with a $3,000 ARD grant. The grant can be used for professional development or research.

To meet the qualifications of the award, the recipient must have an ARD appointment as an assistant professor with five years or less employment at UNL. Other criteria include a record of publications resulting from research conducted at UNL, evidence of external funding activity and peer recognition.

Banerjee began her studies at Delhi University in Delhi, India, where she received her bachelor's in 1980. She completed a master's at the Center for Advanced Studies in Botany at Delhi University in 1982. Banerjee came to the United States and received a Ph.D. at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1987. She also was a postdoctoral associate at the University of Michigan. Prior to her UNL appointment in 1991, Banerjee was a lecturer in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan.

Banerjee's research at UNL involves two enzymes of mammalian metabolism that utilize vitamin B12. She has advanced in cloning, purifying and characterizing the two enzymes.

Banerjee is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

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