Appointments, honors and activities
- The Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM (CATALYST) named Paul Asunda — associate professor of engineering and technology teacher education in the Department of Technology Leadership and Innovation with a joint appointment in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction — as its new executive director. He succeeds Lynn Bryan, professor emerita of science and STEM education and director emerita of CATALYST. The two-year position took effect Jan. 1.
- Dana Weinstein, a professor in Purdue University’s Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and co-chair of the Defense Innovation Purdue Engineering Initiative, will deliver the opening keynote address at the 2026 Government Microcircuit Applications & Critical Technology Conference, known as GoMACTech, on March 10 in New Orleans.
- Amber Reed, director of the Office of Strategic Assessment and Accreditation since July 2022, was promoted to assistant dean of Strategic Assessment and Accreditation by the College of Education.
- The College of Education has named Loran Parker as the new director of the Evaluation and Learning Research Center, effective July 1. Parker, currently associate director and principal evaluation and research scholar at ELRC, will succeed Wilella (Willie) Burgess, who has served as director for 23 years.
- The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has elected Purdue engineering professors Shengwang Du and Vilas Pol to its 2026 class of senior members. The senior member program recognizes active faculty, scientists and administrators at NAI member institutions who have successfully produced, patented and commercialized technologies that have brought, or aspire to bring, real impact for the welfare of society and economic progress.
