Farzana Rahman, a teaching professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), has received the 2025 IEEE Region 1 Outstanding Teaching Award for her sustained contributions to engineering education.
The honor, presented by IEEE Region 1, recognizes excellence in teaching, mentoring and educational leadership at the university level.
Rahman credited several colleagues with supporting her path to the award. She expressed gratitude to EECS Professor Pramod K. Varshney for his nomination, to EECS department chair Alex K. Jones for encouraging her to apply, and to her colleagues and students for their continued support.
The recognition adds to a record of teaching honors Rahman has received that includes Syracuse University’s Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence, the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Teaching Recognition Award and the College Educator of the Year Award from the Technology Alliance of Central New York.
Her nomination highlighted her capacity to simplify complex engineering concepts and build student-centered initiatives spanning coursework, research, peer mentoring, graduate admissions and career preparation. Rahman teaches across core and advanced areas of computer science and engineering, with a focus on problem solving, software engineering, human-machine interaction and socially relevant computing.
Her work bridges technical rigor with career readiness, preparing students to design engineering solutions while thinking critically about real-world constraints, responsible innovation and the evolving role of artificial intelligence in engineering practice.
“Winning the IEEE Region 1 Outstanding Teaching Award means a great deal to me,” says Rahman. “It affirms that teaching the next generation of computer scientists and engineers is exactly how I hope to be recognized. In the age of AI, I hope to keep growing as an educator and scholar so I can help students become technically strong, ethically grounded, and prepared to build technologies that serve people and communities.”
Rahman’s broader research and teaching interests include AI and computing education and human-AI interaction.
“Farzana is an outstanding educator and researcher of best practices in education. She is an absolutely fabulous faculty member who spends every day contributing to our mission of both outstanding research and world-class education that is accessible to all,” says Interim Dean Jenny Ross. “She is an example to all, and this recognition is a testament to her outstanding approach to her work as a faculty member in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. I am so, so proud to be her colleague!”