December 15, 2007
Purdue trustees name two distinguished professors
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue University board of trustees on Saturday (Dec. 15) approved the appointments of two distinguished professors.Robert W. Proctor was named the Distinguished Professor of Psychological Sciences, and Gintaras "Rex" V. Reklaitis was named the Edward W. Comings Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering.
A distinguished professorship is the highest academic distinction at the university bestowed on professors of outstanding accomplishment. The two newest appointments bring the university's total of named and distinguished professors to 149.
"This special recognition is for a select group of professors who have achieved national and international prominence in the academic world, said interim Provost Victor L. Lechtenberg. "Purdue and its students are fortunate to have educators of this caliber."
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Proctor, a professor of psychology, has been at Purdue since 1988. His research focuses on the areas of basic and applied aspects of human performance and examines the relationship between perception and action. This includes how to map display components to controls so that response selection is fast and accurate, structure tasks so that more than one can be performed together efficiently, and characterize changes in response-selection efficiency with practice and age. He also conducts research dealing with how to design systems and interfaces so that people can easily use them. Proctor has recently been conducting research relating to human factors in Web security and privacy practices of Web users. His research has been funded by the Army Research Office, National Institute on Aging, and National Science Foundation, as well as by private companies.
Proctor is a member of several journal editorial boards, has co-authored six books and co-edited two. He also has published numerous book chapters and journal articles and spoken at several conferences.
He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. He also is an honorary fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
Proctor earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1970 and his master's and doctoral degrees in psychology from the University of Texas, Arlington, in 1972 and 1975.
Before arriving at Purdue, he was a professor at Auburn University and Michigan State University.
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Reklaitis has been at Purdue since 1970, and his selection in 2003 as the Edward W. Comings Professor of Chemical Engineering precedes his newest honor as a distinguished professor.
He is deputy director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center on Structured Organic Particulate Systems and co-director of the Pharmaceutical and Education Center. He also has an appointment in the Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy. For 16 years he served as head of the School of Chemical Engineering.
His main area of research is process systems engineering, including computer-aided process operations, process and product design, and scheduling and planning. Recent research has focused on approaches to improve the design and operation of batch and semi-continuous manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as enterprisewide decision support systems for energy systems and health-care applications.
Reklaitis is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, has served as long-term editor-in-chief of Computers & Chemical Engineering and is on the editorial advisory boards for the Journal of Pharmaceutical Innovation and Computer Applications in Engineering Education.
He earned a bachelor's degree with highest distinction from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1965, and his master's and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Stanford University in 1969.
Writer: Jim Bush, (765) 494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu
Sources: Victor L. Lechtenberg, (765) 494-9095, vll@purdue.edu
Robert W. Proctor, (765) 494-0784, proctor@psych.purdue.edu
Gintaras V. Reklaitis, (765) 494-9662, greklait@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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