Purdue News

February 14, 1997

Purdue students receive scholarships, fellowships

• Two students in the School of Technology have been awarded the James and Velma Emmi Award. Joshua Arthur Webb, a junior from Lafayette , and Walter R. Brock III, a senior from Wabash , earned the award based on their high-school and college academic performances. The award for students majoring in computer integrated manufacturing technology or mechanical engineering technology is funded through the James and Velma Emmi Foundation. It provides each student $1,500 in financial support per semester.

• Heather O. Olinger, North Manchester , a junior in financial counseling/planning and consumer affairs, received the Joseph and Rebecca Kennedy Award for Financial Planning Excellence. The scholarship is for $500 for the 1996-97 school year. The award is given to a junior or senior in financial counseling and planning for excellent academic performance and potential for success.

• Robin M. Ridgeway, Rochester, N.Y. , a doctoral student studying environmental engineering in Purdue's School of Civil Engineering, is the first recipient of the Maple Point Foundation Graduate Research Award for outstanding women in civil engineering. The award is based on academic excellence, an interest in research related to environmental engineering, and participating in programs that encourage young women to pursue science and engineering. The $5,000 annual award is funded through the Maple Point Foundation of Lafayette.

Purdue Notebook

-- Thomas Bacher, former vice president of marketing and sales for M.E. Sharpe Inc. of Armonk, N.Y., has been appointed director of the Purdue University Press. Bacher, who has 15 years of experience in various publishing fields, said he plans to widen the scope of the press's activities to include serial and electronic products.

-- Charles "Chuck" O'Keefe has joined the staff of Personnel Services as a human resources consultant. Formerly an attorney with the Indianapolis firm of Sommer & Barnard, O'Keefe spent the last two years representing clients before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Indiana Civil Rights Commission.

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Campus News:

-- The PMO Express will perform at 8 p.m. Feb. 24 in the Hillenbrand Residence Hall study lounge. The free performance is open to the public and is part of a series presented by the Purdue Musical Organizations in Hillenbrand Hall. For more information about the Feb. 24 performance, contact Jon Ranard, Purdue Musical Organizations, (765) 494-3941.

-- The Council on the Status of Women is seeking nominations for its annual Violet Haas Award. The award is presented in May to a department, program or individual that has made a positive impact on behalf of women. Nomination packages, including nomination letters of two pages or less, should be sent to Carolyn Percifield at the Office of the Dean of Engineering, Engineering Administration Building, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. 47907. Nominations must be submitted by March 7.

-- Alpha Sigma Lambda, an academic honor society for undergraduate students age 24 or older, will send out invitations for new members this month. Members must have at least a 3.6 grade point average and be at least a junior. New members will be initiated April 6 in the Anniversary Drawing Room, Purdue Memorial Union. Guest speaker for the ceremony will be Tony Hawkins, dean of students. The society was established in 1945 at Northwestern University. The organization has more than 250 chapters and 11,000 members nationally.

-- The priority deadline for filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid is March 1. Students attending Purdue must list the university as a data recipient in Section H, said Joyce Hall, director of the Division of Financial Aid. Information from the form is used to determine financial aid from Purdue as well as state and federal aid programs. More information is available at http://www.purdue.edu/DFA/ or by calling (765) 494-5050.

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Faculty and Staff Honors:

-- Two Purdue faculty members have been named Fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers: Robert J. Bernhard, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Ray W. Herrick Laboratories, and Ben M. Hillberry, professor of mechanical engineering. Fellow-grade membership is conferred upon members with at least 10 years active engineering practice who have made significant contributions to the field.

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Alumni Honors:

-- Charles V. Jakowatz, an alumnus in the Schools of Engineering, is one of seven people nationwide to win the 1996 E.O. Lawrence Award from the U.S. Department of Energy. Jakowatz, an electrical engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, received his bachelor's (1972), master's (1973) and doctoral (1976) degrees from Purdue in electrical engineering. His award recognizes his fundamental research in signal analysis and image processing and its applications to national security, especially in the overhead detection and identification of weapons of mass destruction.

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Compiled by J. Michael Willis, (765) 494-0371; e-mail, mike_willis@purdue.edu

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