Purdue trustees ratify faculty and staff positions, promotions; approve resolutions of appreciation

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (April 14) ratified faculty and staff appointments and the promotion and tenure of faculty, and approved resolutions of appreciation.

The newly ratified faculty positions are:

* Yoon Yeo, who was named the Lillian Barboul Thomas Professor.

* Bryan Boudouris, who was named the R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering.

* Rajamani Gounder, who was named the R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering.

Yeo is an internationally recognized researcher and thought leader who focuses on drug-delivery technologies and clinical translation to treat cancer and chronic diseases. Her research focuses on four main areas: systemic delivery of nucleic acids, immunomodulatory formulations, tumor-targeted drug delivery and long-acting drug-delivery systems. She holds 11 patents, has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and has been an invited lecturer at more than 140 national and international societies and universities. Yeo is a fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Controlled Release Society and serves as a standing member of the National Institutes of Health Innovations in Nanosystems and Nanotechnology study section. She also currently serves as one of two deputy editors in chief for the Journal of Controlled Release. Yeo came to Purdue in 2007 and currently serves as associate head for the Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy as well as a professor of industrial and physical pharmacy and biomedical engineering.

Boudouris joined Purdue in 2011 and currently is a professor in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering and (by courtesy) a professor in the Department of Chemistry while also serving as associate vice president for research, strategic interdisciplinary research, in the Office of Research. From 2020-22 he served on an Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignment as a program director at the National Science Foundation. He is dedicated to advancing polymer science and engineering, soft materials science and STEM scholarship to address critical global needs related to energy applications, clean water production and devices for improved human health. Boudouris has been recognized with early career awards from the NSF, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Materials Engineering and Sciences Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He also has been awarded the prestigious Dillon Medal of the American Physical Society, presented annually to only one early career polymer scientist or engineer who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishments and exceptional research promise.

Gounder, who joined Purdue in 2013 and has been the Larry and Virginia Faith Professor of Chemical Engineering since 2021, has achieved seminal breakthroughs in catalysis and reaction engineering through the understanding and control of the structure of zeolite catalysts. Zeolites are porous crystals with spaces in them created by a specific architecture of silicon, aluminum and oxygen atoms. Zeolite materials have enormous societal impact as catalysts, adsorbents and ion exchangers. They play major roles in providing clean air, clean water and lower energy usage, and they will be a key to future global sustainability and climate control. Gounder has earned the Early Career in Catalysis Award from the American Chemical Society Division of Catalysis Science and Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Award, the NSF Early Career Award, and the prestigious and highly competitive Sloan Fellowship.

Trustees also approved the ratification of two previously announced appointments:

* Arvind Raman as the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering.

* Zhihong Chen as the Mary Jo and Robert L. Kirk Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center.

Additionally, the board ratified the promotion of 180 faculty across the West Lafayette, Northwest and Fort Wayne campuses and the Purdue schools at IUPUI.

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

* Avrum Gray, to support the College of Liberal Arts.

* Raytheon Technologies, to support the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business.

* Michael Byers, to support the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business and Intercollegiate Athletics.

* Scott Kozuch, to support the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business.

* Nathan and Beth Gabhart, to support the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business.

* Margery Ellen Hoffman, to support the Lyles School of Civil Engineering.

* Norman and Lioubov Gilsdorf, to support the College of Engineering.

* An anonymous gift, to support the College of Veterinary Medicine, Purdue Research Foundation and Purdue Institute for Cancer Research.

* An anonymous gift, to support the College of Agriculture.

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 five 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: Patrick Wolfe

April Headdy

Yoon Yeo

Bryan Boudouris

Rajamani Gounder