Trustees ratify faculty, staff positions; approve new degree, merger, organizational name changes, posthumous degrees, resolutions of appreciation and namings

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (June 6) ratified faculty and staff appointments and approved a new degree program, a merger, organizational name changes, posthumous degrees, resolutions of appreciation and namings.

The newly ratified faculty are:

• Hector Gomez as the Morris Goldman Chair in Engineering
• Makarand (Mark) Hastak as the Reilly Professor in the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering
• Nicole Key as the Avrum and Joyce Gray Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
• Gregory Shaver as the Reilly Professor of Mechanical Engineering
• Eugene Spafford as Distinguished Professor of Computer Science
• Elizabeth Topp as the Maxine Spencer Nichols Professor in Chemical Engineering

Gomez joined Purdue’s mechanical engineering faculty in 2016. He also holds a courtesy appointment in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. Gomez’s research focuses on computer simulations of multiphysics and biological systems. He has made contributions in the areas of multiphase flows, interface dynamics, phase-field modeling, isogeometric analysis, modeling of pathophysiological processes for medical applications, and improving drug delivery systems. His computer models are applicable to problems relevant to human health, energy and national security. He has over 110 publications in top journals and has served on editorial boards for several prestigious journals, including currently as an editor of Engineering with Computers. Gomez’s work has resulted in international recognition with several awards and honors, including being named a fellow of the U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM), a University Faculty Scholar, and a Perry Scholar of Academic Excellence. He has also earned the Juan C. Simo Award from the Spanish Society of Computational Mechanics, a spot on the MIT Innovators Under 35 (Europe section) list, the Young Investigator Award from Spain’s Royal Academy of Engineering, the Gallagher Young Investigator Award from the USACM, the Princess of Girona Foundation Scientific Research Award presented by the king of Spain, a Seed for Success Acorn Award, and more. The Morris Goldman Chair in Engineering endowment was established by the trustees of the estate of Thomas F. Goldman in December 2023 to honor the memory of his father, Morris Goldman, a 1934 electrical engineering alumnus.

Hastak came to Purdue in 2001 with a joint appointment in civil engineering and construction engineering and management. He served as the Dernlan Family Head of Construction Engineering and Management from 2007-24 and is presently a professor of civil and construction engineering and the president of the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction. Hastak is also the founding chair of the Global Leadership Forum for Construction Engineering and Management Programs. His research centers around construction decision support systems and construction process improvements, risk assessment, project control, and infrastructure resiliency from natural disasters. His work has led to several innovative construction industry paradigms for improving profitability, infrastructure management, disaster risk reduction, intelligent planning units and risk management, leading to over 6,000 citations. Hastak has served on several professional committees and boards, including as editor-in-chief of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Journal of Management in Engineering, where he is also currently a board member. He has received several prestigious awards and honors, including being elected as member of the National Academy of Construction, being named a fellow of the ASCE and the American Council on Education, and serving as an honorary distinguished visiting professor at General Tadeusz Kościuszko Military University of Land Forces in Wrocław, Poland. He has also received the Construction Management Association of America’s Academic Achievement Award, the Roy E. and Myrna Wansik Civil Engineering Research Award from Purdue, and more. The Reilly Professor in the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering professorship honors Vincent P. Reilly, a 1922 Purdue alumnus and founder of Illinois Gear and Machine Co. The endowment was created in 1969.

Key joined Purdue’s mechanical engineering faculty in 2007. She now serves as the associate head for graduate studies and a professor of mechanical engineering with a courtesy appointment in aeronautics and astronautics. Her gas turbine propulsion research focuses on understanding the underlying flow physics associated with primary and secondary flow phenomena in fans and compressors to enable more efficient, robust designs. Her lab is the premier experimental facility for mid-technology readiness level compressor research in the U.S., featuring axial compressors, radial compressors and fans. Key’s research has been sponsored by NASA, the Office of Naval Research, Rolls-Royce, Honeywell, Siemens, Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and the GUIde Consortium. She has been selected as the next director of the consortium as it moves from Duke University to Purdue in 2026. She played an instrumental role in Purdue being named the prestigious Pratt & Whitney Center of Excellence in Aeromechanics in December 2024. She previously led the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ (ASME) Gas Turbine Segment Leadership Team. Key has also been an associate editor for ASME’s Journal of Turbomachinery and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Journal of Propulsion and Power. Her honors and awards are many, including being named a Purdue University Faculty Scholar; a fellow of ASME; and a fellow of the Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering, and Sciences program. She has also received the International Gas Turbine Institute’s Dilip Ballal Early Career Award, among others. The Avrum and Joyce Gray Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation title honors entrepreneur and 1956 Purdue alumnus Avrum Gray and his late wife, Joyce Beth Gray.

Shaver joined Purdue’s mechanical engineering faculty in 2006 and currently serves as the director of the Ray W. Herrick Laboratories and the Smart Crossroads Consortium. His research program is dedicated to clean, safe and efficient commercial vehicles via advanced diesel, natural gas, hydrogen, ethanol and biodiesel engine systems and controls, powertrain electrification, and heavy vehicle automation. These research efforts are currently being funded by the Department of Energy, Cummins, Deere and Caterpillar. Shaver has published more than 130 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and holds nine patents. He is a fellow of SAE International and the ASME, and his honors and awards include being named a Purdue University Faculty Scholar and receiving the Early Career Excellence in Research Award and the Impact on Industry Award from Purdue’s College of Engineering; SAE’s Max Bentele Award for Engine Technology Innovation, Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, and John Johnson Best Paper Award for Outstanding Research in Diesel Engines; and more. The Reilly Professor of Mechanical Engineering professorship honors Vincent P. Reilly, a 1922 Purdue alumnus and founder of Illinois Gear and Machine Co. The endowment was created in 1969.

Spafford joined Purdue’s computer science faculty in 1987, and he currently serves as a full professor with courtesy appointments in electrical and computer engineering, communication, philosophy, and political science. His research interests focus on issues of computer and network security, cybercrime and ethics, technology policy, and the social impact of computing. Spafford is the founder and executive director emeritus of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, a universitywide institute that draws on expertise and research across many of Purdue’s academic disciplines. For 25 years, he has been the head of the information security interdisciplinary graduate degree program at Purdue, which he helped start. It is the oldest such degree program in existence. Spafford has served on several conference committees and review panels, including committees advising the U.S. president (as a member of the president’s Information Technology Advisory Committee), the FBI (as a member of the Forensics Laboratory Advisory Board), the chief scientist of the Air Force (via the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board), and the director of the National Security Agency. For the last 15 years, he has been editor-in-chief of Computers & Security, the oldest journal in cybersecurity. Spafford is the only person to ever achieve being named a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, IEEE, the International Information System Security Certification Consortium, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a distinguished fellow of the Information Systems Security Association. His honors and awards include being elected to the Cyber Security Hall of Fame and Purdue’s Book of Great Teachers, as well as being named a fellow of the Purdue Teaching Academy. He has received Purdue’s Morrill Award and Charles B. Murphy Award, a Sagamore of the Wabash, a Founders Award by the Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education, the IEEE Computer Society’s Taylor L. Booth Medal, and more.

Topp came to Purdue in 2009 as the department head and Dane O. Kildsig Chair of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy. She currently serves as a professor in the same department (renamed the Department of Industrial and Molecular Pharmaceutics) and in chemical engineering, where her research focuses on addressing the formulation and stability of protein drugs and other biologics, with particular emphasis on the amorphous solid state. Topp is also the director of the William D. and Sherry L. Young Institute for the Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals and holds a concurrent position as a principal investigator at the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training in Dublin, Ireland. In 2015, she co-founded the industry-university consortium LyoHUB for advancing pharmaceutical lyophilization technology. Her work has been instrumental in the collaboration between Merck, Eli Lilly and Company, and Purdue at the LEAP Innovation District in Indiana, representing a significant commitment to domestic manufacturing excellence. Topp has served on several editorial boards and is currently on the editorial advisory board of the journals Drugs and the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Molecular Pharmaceutics. Topp has been widely recognized with several awards and honors, including being elected to Purdue’s Innovator Hall of Fame and being named a fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, as well as receiving the Chaney Faculty Scholar Award from Purdue’s College of Pharmacy, the Michael J. Pikal NIPTE Distinguished Scholar Award in Pharmaceutical Processing, and more. The Maxine Spencer Nichols Professor in Chemical Engineering professorship was established by Dr. D. Edward Nichols in 1998 to honor the memory of his wife, Maxine Spencer Nichols, a 1949 chemical engineering alumna.

Trustees also ratified the previously announced selection of Dan DeLaurentis as executive vice president for research.

In other action, trustees approved the creation of a Bachelor of Arts degree in cognitive science, which will be offered through the West Lafayette location beginning in fall 2025. As large language models reshape research and innovation, the new program fills a gap at the intersection of computer science, linguistics, philosophy and psychology by offering interdisciplinary coursework in cognitive development, philosophy of mind, neural networks and language acquisition. The program advances the Purdue Computes initiative by offering fresh perspectives on cognition and computational models. It also supports the One Health initiative by equipping students with the essential tools to identify and treat cognitive disorders. Currently all 92 Indiana counties face a mental health care workforce shortage. The program helps address this critical need by preparing graduates for in-demand and high-growth careers in data, medical and linguistic analysis, human-computer interaction, and human factors analysis.

Additionally, trustees approved the merger of the Department of Computer Graphics Technology and the Department of Computer and Information Technology into the School of Applied and Creative Computing, effective July 1. This strategic unification will promote cross-disciplinary excellence in computing and digital media while preserving the unique strengths of each program. It is designed to strengthen graduates’ positioning in their respective fields by enhancing their skill sets and expanding networking opportunities within an integrated academic environment. The school will position itself as a leader in addressing workforce needs within the Hard Tech Corridor by leveraging West Lafayette’s advanced research and engineering expertise alongside Indianapolis’ urban tech ecosystem and proximity to major industries.

Trustees also approved renaming the College of Engineering’s Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering to the School of Sustainability Engineering and Environmental Engineering (SEE), effective July 1. With this change, the College of Engineering is well positioned to be a leader in this emerging area, as the SEE will capture the growing impact and relevance of engineering innovations that are essential to meet industry demands for sustainability while promoting economic vitality. The new school will also support ongoing transformations in the corporate sector, where sustainability initiatives remain key to profitability and competitiveness. Between 2022 and 2023, job postings related to sustainability and economic prosperity increased by more than 22%. SEE’s integrated approach combines traditional environmental engineering with systems and technical engineering expertise in sustainability, creating synergistic opportunities with several units across campus while aligning directly with emerging workforce needs.

To better reflect their academic focus, two departments at Purdue University Fort Wayne were approved for name changes by the board, effective July 1. The Department of English and Linguistics will be renamed the Department of English, following the relocation of the linguistics program to the School of Education on July 1, 2024. The Department of Criminal Justice and Public Administration will be renamed the Department of Criminal Justice. This reflects a 2021 decision to revise and relaunch the public administration degree as a future program within the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in the College of Liberal Arts. In both cases, the name changes provide a more accurate representation of their current academic offerings.

Trustees awarded a posthumous Bachelor of Science in cybersecurity to Austin Fisher and a posthumous Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering to John W. Weaver III. A posthumous degree requires that at least 85% of the credit hour requirements have been completed, including most of the requirements for the major.

In other action, trustees approved resolutions of appreciation for friends of the university who recently contributed $1 million or more to Purdue. Those are:

• Phil and Joan Low, to support the Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery
• Greg and Amy Baker, to support the College of Pharmacy
• Sam and Marsha Allen, to support the Mitch Daniels School of Business
• Jaquish & Kenninger Foundation, to support the Purdue Military Research Institute
• Lennar Foundation, to support Purdue Polytechnic Institute
• Gates Foundation, to support the College of Agriculture
• Ricks Family Foundation, to support the College of Agriculture
• Chaney Family Foundation, to support the Mitch Daniels School of Business
• Kenneth Neavel, to support the College of Science
• William and Sherry Young, to support the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering
• Rick Ralston, to support the College of Engineering
• An anonymous gift, to support the College of Health and Human Sciences
• An anonymous gift, to support the College of Science and the College of Health and Human Sciences
• An anonymous gift, to support the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics

Additionally, trustees approved the following namings:

• The Lennar Foundation Construction Lab in the Gateway Complex building, in recognition of the Lennar Foundation
• The Chaney Family Collaboration Hub in the future Mitch Daniels School of Business building, in recognition of the Chaney Family Foundation
• Calumet Hall, the new residence hall being built on the Purdue University Northwest-Hammond Campus, in recognition of the rich geographic and cultural heritage of the region that is home to Purdue Northwest

Trustees also approved resolutions of appreciation for:

• David Reingold, the former Justin S. Morrill Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, senior vice president for policy planning and professor in the Department of Sociology, who became chancellor of Indiana University Bloomington on June 2
• Karen Plaut, executive vice president for research and previously the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture, who is retiring June 30
• Kevin Boes, who completes his two-year term as Purdue’s 25th student trustee June 30
• Debbie Hohlt, who represented Purdue in its federal government relations efforts under presidents Mitch Daniels and Mung Chiang from 2013-25

In additional action, trustees ratified the university’s commitment to provide an advance to the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue as a backstop against gift funds and other revenues to be generated in support of its mission and operations.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its comprehensive urban expansion, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.