Appointments, honors and activities

• Faculty and staff honors:

Bradley Dilger, associate professor of English, has had a project selected for the “The Work of the Humanities in a Changing Climate” research challenge supported by the Humanities Without Walls Consortium. The research challenge has awarded Bradley $141,708 to use through 2018 for his project. The Corpus and Repository of Writing brings together researchers at Purdue, Michigan State, and the University of Arizona to create a web-based archive for research and professional development in applied linguistics and rhetoric and composition. The Humanities Without Walls consortium is funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.  

Monika Ivantysynova, Purdue University’s Maha Professor of Fluid Power Systems, has been selected to receive an honorary doctorate degree from the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) in Finland. The two-day ceremony is planned for June 15-16. The university specifically cited Ivantysynova’s “valuable contribution to the development of mechanical engineering research at LUT,” and her leadership of organizations “that evaluate Finnish mechanical engineering research.” LUT will award 14 honorary doctorates in its upcoming ceremony. Ivantysynova is director of Purdue’s Maha Fluid Power Research Center and a professor in both the School of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. She came to Purdue in 2004 and is an expert in fluid power, or hydraulics, which is critical for the operation of aircraft, heavy equipment and many other applications. Her research involves developing hydraulic systems that eliminate the use of valves now needed to control the flow of hydraulic fluid, promising to lead to more compact, lightweight hydraulic technology that use less energy than conventional systems.   

The 2017 Leadership in Action Awards, sponsored by the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence, recognized Purdue faculty, staff and a graduate student who have shown exemplary leadership within their respective areas of expertise.  Jane Kirkpatrick, associate dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences, and Deborah Rupp, professor and William C. Byham chair of industrial/organizational psychology were selected as faculty winners of the award. Tracie Egger, assistant director of the College of Agriculture’s Office of Academic Programs, and Brandon Fulk, director of internships for the College of Engineering, were selected as staff winners. Domenique Lumpkin, a Doctor of Philosophy student in the civil (architectural) engineering program, was selected as the student winner.

• Alumni honors:

Thomas A. Gray and Brian C. Bosma were honored with the School of Engineering Education’s Outstanding Alumni Award. Bosma, speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, and Gray, senior consultant and fire protection engineer at Global Risk Consultants, South Jordan, Utah, are graduates of the former Division of Interdisciplinary Engineering. Both men were honored for successful careers and achievements that set an example for the school’s alumni.

• Student honors:

Purdue’s School of Engineering Education honored five students in multidisciplinary engineering and interdisciplinary engineering studies. Sean Obrecht (acoustical engineering) and Lucas Ray (pre-medical studies) received the Outstanding Senior Award. Reis Lehman (visual design engineering) and Abby Lemert (foreign policy engineering) are the Outstanding Junior Award winners. The Outstanding IDE Senior Award for Service was presented to Danielle Render (engineering management).