Mark Brehob voted 2025 HKN Professor of the Year in CSE

Mark Brehob, Teaching Professor and Kurt Metzger Collegiate Lecturer, has been named 2025 HKN Professor of the Year in CSE by the Beta-Epsilon chapter of Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), the national honor society for electrical and computer engineers.

The HKN Professor of the Year Award is awarded based on popular vote by all undergraduate and graduate students in programs administered by the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The voting is administered by HKN leadership, and two faculty are selected each year, one in the CSE Division, and one in the ECE Division.

“It is an honor to be selected,” said Brehob. “There really is no higher honor for a teacher than the recognition of their students.”

Brehob is receiving this honor for the sixth time; students have previously chosen him as HKN Professor of the Year in 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2012. With this year’s recognition, he has received this award more times than any other EECS faculty member.

Brehob is Chief Program Advisor for the undergraduate Computer Engineering (CE) program and as such has been the primary faculty academic advisor for all CE students at Michigan for most of the last 24 years. In addition, he is the director of the Michigan Embedded Systems Hub, a shared lab for use by all U-M students, faculty, and staff that provides space and resources for basic embedded systems work.

“The Embedded Systems Lab is a place where students, faculty, and staff can learn embedded systems basics,” said Brehob.  “They can use the lab for coursework, student teams, or personal projects.”

Brehob typically teaches courses related to computer architecture and embedded systems, but also teaches courses on data structures and discrete mathematics as well as freshman engineering classes. Over the years, this has included Engineering 100 and 101, and EECS 203, 270, 281/380, 370, 373, 376, 452, 470, and 473. This past year, Brehob taught Computer Organization (EECS 370), Advanced Embedded Systems (EECS 473), and will be teaching Foundations of Computer Science (EECS 376) this Spring.

In addition, Brehob collaborates with ECE staff member Catherine Lawrence to compile and advertise to students a list of last-minute faculty-sponsored summer projects. Typically circulated in April of each year, the projects can provide valuable experience for students who have not otherwise secured summer internships or projects. Finally, for more than a decade Brehob has hosted a “day of gaming” between Christmas and New Year’s Day, during which EECS faculty and staff are invited to join in a blizzard of board games for a full day (usually until midnight!).

Brehob has taught in the EECS Department at Michigan since 2000 and has long been recognized by students, faculty, and administrators for his contributions in the classroom and beyond. In 2015, he was named a Collegiate Lecturer in recognition of his outstanding and sustained contributions to instruction. In 2023, he was named a Teaching Professor, a new designation at the University of Michigan which recognizes expertise and excellence by career teaching faculty.

Brehob has also been recognized with the EECS Outstanding Achievement Award (2021), the College of Engineering Thomas M. Sawyer, Jr. Teaching Excellence Award (2005) and an EECS Special Teaching Award (given once, in 2003).