June 10, 2022

Purdue trustees ratify appointments, award posthumous degrees, approve resolutions of appreciation

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (June 10) ratified four appointments, awarded two posthumous degrees and approved resolutions of appreciation.

The newly ratified positions are:

* Irith Pomeranz, who was named the Cadence Professor in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

* Dan Jiao, who was named the Synopsys Professor in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

* Linda Lee, who was named a Distinguished Professor of Agronomy.

* Eric Barker, who was named the Jeannie and Jim Chaney Dean of Pharmacy.

pomeranz-irith Irith Pomeranz
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Pomeranz, who came to Purdue as a full professor in 2000, is a leading researcher in the field of testing and diagnosis of integrated circuits. Manufacturing processes of integrated circuits introduce defects that manifest themselves as errors causing failure of electronic chips to perform their functions correctly, and malfunctions have consequences ranging from computer crashes, to loss of data and services, to financial and productivity losses, or even loss of human life. With manufactured chips containing millions of devices, the complexity of identifying these defects has been compared to searching for a needle in a very large haystack. Pomeranz has conducted extensive theoretical and experimental work that has resulted in ground-breaking techniques that dramatically improves test quality and lowers costs. She is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellow and has received three best paper awards. An article she co-authored was selected by the 2016 International Test Conference as the most significant article published in 10 years. She has published over 250 journal papers and over 350 conference papers. In 2006, Pomeranz became an IEEE Computer Society Golden Core member and in 2020, she became one of the first three featured authors on the IEEE Xplore digital library.

jiao-dan Dan Jiao
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Jiao is a world leader in the field of computational electromagnetics for designing and optimizing the next generation of analog/digital/mixed-signal/radio frequency integrated circuits and systems. She has made fundamental contributions in time domain solutions to a number of electromagnetic problems that are important for high-frequency integrated circuits, packages and antennas. She has released four major software programs through Intel and holds two U.S. patents. Jiao is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellow and has received multiple honors and awards, including Intel’s 2019 Outstanding Researcher Award, being named the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society Distinguished Microwave Lecturer in 2020 and receiving the 2013 Sergei A. Schelkunoff Transactions Prize Paper Award of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. Jiao has published over 330 papers in refereed journals and international conferences. She came to Purdue as an assistant professor in 2005 and earned promotions to associate professor in 2009 and full professor in 2013. Since July 2020, she has served as the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering associate head for resource planning and management. She also served as the director of graduate admissions from 2018-20.

lee-linda Linda Lee
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Lee is a highly regarded environmental chemist, who has made significant contributions to our understanding of the mobility and persistence of perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS), hormones, pesticides and antibiotics in the environment. She has developed innovative mathematical and chemical models to predict the mobility of these compounds in agricultural soils and, most recently, has applied these models to help us better understand the fate and transport of fluorine-containing organic chemicals. Importantly, she has translated her basic research to applications in remediation of soils, sediments and groundwater. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America. Among her other honors are the 2019 Water Environment Research Paper of the Year, the 2020 Journal of Hazardous Material Paper of the Year and the 2021 American Society of Agronomy Environmental Quality Research Award, which recognizes contributions that may improve the quality of soil, water and air resources. In 2020, Lee received a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to understand the ways in which agricultural applications may affect surface and ground waters that feed rural drinking wells in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Virginia. She has published more than 130 peer-reviewed papers and is a member of EPA’s Science Advisory Board on Biosolids. Lee has been the keynote speaker at the Emerging Contaminant Conference, the California Water Environment Association and the Michigan Water Environment Association, among others. She joined Purdue as assistant professor in 1993, was promoted to associate professor in 1997 and full professor in 2001.

barker-eric Eric Barker
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Barker has been Dean of the College of Pharmacy since 2017 and a professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology since 2011. He previously served as associate dean for research (2010-17) and assistant dean for graduate programs (2007-10) after coming to Purdue as an assistant professor in 1998 and being promoted to associate professor in 2004. Barker is a noted neuropharmacologist, award-winning teacher, skilled academic leader and pharmacist. He is a member of several professional associations, including the American Pharmacists Association, Society for Neuroscience and American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. The College of Pharmacy was No. 7 among 142 schools in the latest US News & World Report rankings.

In other action, trustees awarded a posthumous Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering Technology degree to John Zachary Linzey and a posthumous Master of Science in Communication degree to Elif Ilkel, both from Purdue West Lafayette.

Additionally, the board approved a resolution of appreciation for Dr. Esteban F. Ramirez, who served as chief medical officer for the Protect Purdue Health Center from 2020-22, and the Distinguished Boilermaker Award was presented to Jim Almond, who is retiring June 30 after 39 years of service to Purdue, culminating as senior vice president and assistant treasurer. Resolutions of appreciation also were approved for those who recently contributed $1 million or more to the university:

* Jean Anne and James Chaney, to support the College of Pharmacy.

* Walther Cancer Foundation, to support the Purdue Center for Cancer Research.

* James and Carol Cure, to support the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, John Purdue Club, Purdue Polytechnic High School and University Residences.

* Brian and Ashley Ford, to support the John Purdue Club and College of Engineering.

* Beth Brooke, to support the Krannert School of Management, LGBTQ Center and Intercollegiate Athletics.

* Irene and Brian Binash, to support University Initiatives.

* Barbara Duckworth, to support the School of Mechanical Engineering.

* Jack Garrigues, to support the College of Veterinary Medicine.

* Terry and Lynda Manon, to support the School of Mechanical Engineering.

* Mark Phillips, to support Purdue Bands & Orchestras.

* Doraiswami and Geetha Ramkrishna, to support the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering.

* Drusilla and Thomas (d. 2020) Sawyer, to support the College of Veterinary Medicine.

* Lisa and Brian Yohler, to support the College of Veterinary Medicine.

* Three anonymous gifts, to support the College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Science and Davidson School of Chemical Engineering.

In recognizing these donors, trustees further approved the establishment of the Jeannie and Jim Chaney Dean of Pharmacy for the next five years as well as the Jeannie and Jim Chaney Dean’s Excellence Fund Endowment for Pharmacy.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked in each of the last four years as one of the 10 Most Innovative universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://stories.purdue.edu.

Sources: Jay Akridge

April Headdy

Irith Pomeranz

Dan Jiao

Linda Lee

Eric Barker


Note to Journalists: Photos are available on Google Drive.

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