Nancy Kinner – professor of civil and environmental engineering, oil spill expert, chief faculty marshal – has another title to add to her list. Kinner has been honored for outstanding contributions to her field and to the university community with a University Professorship, announced provost John Aber, himself a University Professor.

University Professorships are supported through the generosity of the UNH Foundation and awarded to full professors who have demonstrated the highest levels of excellence in teaching, scholarship (including the creative arts), and service during an extended period of tenure at UNH.

“Dr. Kinner embodies so much that is special about UNH,” says Aber. “She is passionate about teaching, sets very high standards, and is always available to her students. Her research is timely and rigorous, and very relevant to national needs, as evidenced by her role in the response to the BP Gulf oil spill. She reaches out to aspiring young engineers in middle schools and high schools, who in turn come out to hear her on-campus presentations. She has touched many and changed many lives. She leads UNH by example and by action in so many ways, not the least of which is her annual role in organizing and leading the platform party at commencement, and, of course, her annual rendition of ‘Happy Trails.’” 

On the UNH faculty since 1983, Kinner is a sought-after and respected teacher and mentor. She has been co-director of the Coastal Response Research Center, a partnership between UNH and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), since 2004. The center, part of the Environmental Research Group at UNH, is focused on developing new approaches to oil spill response and restoration in marine and estuarine environments through research and synthesis of information.

During the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Kinner was sought after for her expertise by hundreds of national media outlets, she testified before federal lawmakers three times, and she convened several high-level meetings among spill responders, scientists, and other stakeholders in the Gulf of Mexico spill region.  

Recipients of the University Professorships are expected to have attained international stature in their discipline because of their significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge or aesthetic understandings. They will have received other widely recognized honors such as international prizes, fellowships, or appointments.  

University Professorships are the highest form of recognition at the university and are available to no more than four individuals at any one time. The position is held as long as the individual is employed by the university.

 Photo credit: UNH Photographic Services