UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Swaroop Ghosh, professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the College of Engineering, has received the 2025 Graduate Faculty Teaching Award.
The award, established in 1992 by the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School, is presented to faculty members in recognition of outstanding teaching performance and advising of graduate students.
Nominators called Ghosh a leader in the field of hardware design and security. They said he invites his graduate students to solve some of the top global challenges such as sustainability, healthcare and cybersecurity through novel approaches such as quantum computing.
“The respect Dr. Ghosh commands not just from his academic prowess but from his character,” a nominator said. “He’s humble, objective, diligent, and approachable, treating every idea and criticism with the same degree of respect. His philosophy is simple yet profound: ‘Work hard, give your best, and good things will follow.’ It’s this unwavering belief in hard work and in his students that makes Dr. Ghosh an exemplary adviser, and an empowering mentor.”
Nominators said Ghosh is a great educator and mentor for his students in numerous ways.
He creates a support structure for his students where more experienced graduate students supervise newer students. This approach leads to collaboration as well as mentoring. His newer students frequently find themselves assisting on high-impact research projects.
He meets one-on-one and in groups to brainstorm and help guide their research paths. Nominators said he knows graduate students face challenges, so he’s also flexible and accommodating.
Nominators said he uses his industry knowhow and ties — he worked at Intel — to help his students land great jobs. His semiconductor research helps students research areas that are in high demand in industry.
Ghosh is also an exceptional teacher, nominators said, and has created several courses at Penn State.
“Dr. Ghosh is a great professor,” a former student said. “He organizes his lectures in such a way that the main idea is always understood so that he can go into the details that are important in the industry.”
Dr. Ghosh has advised or co-advised 21 doctoral candidates, about half of which entered the workforce or companies such as Nvidia, Intel, IBM and Apple. He and his research group has generated more than 200 papers, eight books or chapters of books, 15 U.S. patents, nine provisional patents and 11 invention disclosures.
“The exceptional success and productivity of Dr. Ghosh’s students pivot on several measures that he takes during their Ph.D. programs," a nominator said. “Dr. Ghosh has dedicated much of his professional career to the betterment of his students through teaching and advising. His mentorship is an inspiring example in the engineering discipline.”