Six Cal State LA faculty members were recognized for excellence in teaching and outstanding achievements during the University Convocation and Investiture on Aug. 18, 2025.
Four faculty members received the Outstanding Professor Awards, and one was recognized with the Outstanding Lecturer Award. These awards celebrate significant accomplishments in scholarly inquiry or creative work, professional contributions, and community service.
Additionally, the President’s Distinguished Professor Award was presented to a previous Outstanding Professor Award recipient. This honor recognizes superlative teaching, exceptional dedication to students, and sustained professional excellence.
The Outstanding Faculty
President’s Distinguised Professor
David Blekhman
David Blekhman, professor of technology in the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology (ECST), is an internationally recognized expert in hydrogen technology, clean energy, and advanced transportation systems.
Since joining Cal State LA in 2007, Blekhman has demonstrated a strong commitment to academic excellence, student success, and community engagement. He is the founding technical director of the University’s Hydrogen Research and Fueling Facility (HRFF), commissioned in 2011. The HRFF produces hydrogen through electrolysis and serves as a vital hub for education, research, and innovation in zero-emission transportation.
Blekhman’s contributions have earned him some of the most prestigious honors in academia, including the 2023 CSU Wang Family Excellence Award for Outstanding Scholarship—the highest faculty recognition across the 22-campus CSU system—and Cal State LA’s Outstanding Professor Award in 2022. He was also named a 2019-20 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Alternative Energy Technology at Chalmers University in Sweden.
He has secured more than $36 million in grant funding as a principal investigator, co-PI, and senior personnel. In 2025 alone, he received three grants totaling more than $600,000.
Through his leadership, the HRFF has trained hundreds of students and hosted more than 12,000 visitors, including first responders, industry leaders, and international delegations.
Outstanding Professors
Eun-Young (Elaine) Kang
Eun-Young (Elaine) Kang is a professor of computer science in ECST. She has served as chair of the Department of Computer Science since 2019.
A strong advocate for inclusive computing education, Kang has secured more than
$5.5 million in external funding as a principal or co-principal investigator to support equity- focused initiatives.
Kang’s current projects include the National Science Foundation-funded Broadening Participation in Computing grant, which supports Latinx student retention through socially responsible computing and early community engagement; the Center for Inclusive Computing Transfer Pathway Project, aimed at removing barriers for transfer students in computing;
and the Computer Science Supplementary Authorization program, which she launched and continues to direct to train K–12 teachers—particularly in underserved districts—to teach computer science.
Kang is passionate about teaching in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, multimedia data, and game development. She has also supervised numerous senior design capstone projects in partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mozilla, and other public and private organizations, and has mentored student teams in national-level game competitions.
Devika Hazra
Devika Hazra is a professor of economics and statistics in the College of Business and Economics.
A scholar, educator, and advocate, Hazra’s work focuses on gender-based violence, economic inequality, and structural injustice, with the goal of informing both academic inquiry and real- world solutions.
Trained as an applied microeconomist, Hazra leads interdisciplinary research that examines the economic and institutional roots of violence against women and marginalized communities. Her projects combine quantitative and qualitative methods to address pressing social and economic issues. She was also honored with the Provost Faculty Fellow award at Cal State LA.
A committed educator, Hazra teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, monetary policy, and development economics. She brings inclusive and innovative teaching practices to the classroom and has helped lead efforts to align curriculum with career readiness as a faculty fellow of the Center for Effective Teaching and Learning. She mentors students at Cal State LA, as well as other students through the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession.
Hazra serves as vice chair of the Academic Senate. She co-directed the college’s Financial Fitness Program and Gateway to Employment Initiative.
Rupa Purasinghe
Rupa Purasinghe is a professor of civil engineering in ECST. He has served as chair of two departments, civil engineering and technology, where he led strategic academic and industry-aligned initiatives to strengthen applied learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and workforce development.
His work focuses on bridging traditional engineering disciplines with emerging technologies to prepare students for the evolving demands of modern infrastructure and the industrial sector. Under his leadership, the Department of Civil Engineering and the Department of Technology have expanded their curriculum and industry partnerships.
A champion of experiential learning, Purasinghe has played a key role in integrating hands- on lab experiences, project-based coursework, and capstone design into both civil engineering and technology programs. He is also involved in accreditation efforts, program assessment, and continuous improvement processes.
Purasinghe has served as a principal investigator and co-investigator on several grants supporting curriculum development, workforce training, and STEM research and outreach. His research interests include engineering materials, infrastructure sustainability, engineering education, and the application of digital tools in engineering.
Patrick Sharp
Patrick Sharp is a professor of liberal arts in the College of Arts and Letters.
A faculty leader since 2001, Sharp co-led the development of the Liberal Studies program’s interdisciplinary curriculum, securing department status in 2004. He has served as associate chair, head of curriculum, and head of advisement, before becoming the department’s first chair. He also directed the University’s Writing Proficiency Exam for three years.
Sharp has held additional leadership roles, including interim associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters, special assistant to the dean, and faculty athletics representative. He supported the Honors College through a leadership transition and played a foundational role in two major campus initiatives: EagleCon, a convention on speculative media, and the Prison Graduation Initiative. He currently leads the Liberal Studies Program at the California Institution for Women in Chino, where he teaches and mentors faculty working with incarcerated students.
Sharp is the author of Savage Perils, cited across disciplines and recognized as foundational to the field of indigenous futurism. His co-edited anthology Sisters of Tomorrow was named feminist anthology of the year by the Popular Culture Association.
Outstanding Lecturer
Dinur Blum
Dinur Blum is an instructor in sociology in the College of Natural and Social Sciences.
Blum’s research focuses on student-athlete challenges and successes in the classroom,
the social causes of and solutions to mass shootings in the United States, the spread of misinformation and disinformation, and COVID-19’s effects on U.S. higher education. He has conducted research and delivered presentations on these topics at regional, national, and international conferences and workshops, and has participated in multiple news interviews related to his expertise.
Blum is a committed educator who dedicates countless hours to mentoring students so they can excel academically and professionally. His students continue to succeed because of their efforts, alongside his commitment and enthusiasm for sociology and criminology.
Blum actively participates in and contributes to workshops offered by the Center for Effective Teaching and Learning (CETL) and the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE). He was part of CETL’s inaugural Career-Engaged Departments program, focusing on making sociology courses more professionally relevant for students, and has earned ACUE’s certificate in effective college instruction.