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The Riker Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching recognizes a faculty member who has excelled in graduate instruction, particularly in the University’s doctoral programs.

Since joining the University of Rochester in 2011, Jiebo Luo has been an exceptional teacher, excelling in four undergraduate/graduate-level courses: Machine Vision, Data Mining, Data-Enabled Research on Cognition, and Advanced Machine Vision. Jiebo's courses have received high praise from students, and a key feature of these courses is the hands-on final project, which provides students with an opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world research problems.

Jiebo’s passion for teaching is particularly evident in his unique and meticulous approach to mentoring graduate students. With well over two decades of research experience spanning multiple fields and across both industry and academia, Jiebo’s extensive knowledge and understanding prove invaluable to his students. In addition to providing higher-level guidance, Jiebo works closely with each of his students throughout their projects, from experiment execution to manuscript writing. For Prof. Luo, each project is an opportunity to develop the essential characteristics of an independent researcher in every student under his guidance.

Jiebo’s impact on graduate education has been significant, having mentored 22 doctoral students as the primary advisor, supervised the dissertations and theses of 24 graduate students, and mentored 60 master's students and 17 visiting scholars. The success of his mentees can be seen in their notable accomplishments and successful careers in academia and industry.

Dr. Zhengyuan Yang (PhD ’21, now at Microsoft) says “My personal transition from a novice undergraduate student to becoming a domain expert in my field of research during my Ph.D. is a testament to Prof. Luo’s excellence in graduate instruction and advising skills. When I first started my Ph.D. journey in 2016, I had limited research experience, particularly in the field of AI. However, this low starting point gave me the opportunity of experiencing how Prof. Luo adapted his advising technique to allow students with different backgrounds and strengths to achieve their best. Prof. Luo’s skilled guidance and mentorship are crucial in my development in my field of research, and allow me to launch a successful research career.”

Jiebo will be presented with the award at the University’s Doctoral Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 17.