February 20, 2008

Six Purdue engineering alumni to receive honors

The engineering alumni being honored are Michael J. Cave, Michael J. Graff, Moira A. Gunn, Debra Haley, Anthony Harris and Tresa M. Pollock. They will be recognized at a noon luncheon in the Purdue Memorial Union North Ballroom.

The event is part of Purdue's celebration of National Engineers Week, which was created to raise public understanding and appreciation of engineers' contributions to society.

"Purdue engineering graduates have moved on to work at some of the most influential companies, universities and organizations in the world," said Leah H. Jamieson, John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering. "Our alumni recipients represent some of the best that Purdue has to offer."

This year's award winners come from business, government and academia.

* Cave, who earned his bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary engineering from Purdue in 1982, is senior vice president of business development and strategy at The Boeing Co. in Chicago. In 2006 Hispanic Engineer and Information Technology Magazine named him one of the 100 Most Important Hispanics in Technology and Business. He worked at McDonnell Douglas from 1983 to 2006, rising to hold several vice president positions. Cave helped Boeing survive one the biggest industry downturns in history when it regained its leadership in innovation, profitability and sales after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

* Graff, president and CEO of Air Liquide USA LLC in Houston and chairman of Air Liquide Canada, earned a master's degree in chemical engineering from Purdue in 1979. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology and completed advanced management programs and studied business at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, the University of Chicago and Stanford University Law School. From 1977 to 2004 Graff held a variety of leadership roles with Amoco and BP, rising to president and CEO of BP's Polymers Americas division in 2002.

* Gunn earned her master's degree in computer science at Purdue in 1972 and became the first woman to earn her doctorate in mechanical engineering from the university in 1974. She has a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of San Francisco. She created and began hosting the public radio program "Tech Nation" in 1993 and, in 2004, launched "BioTech Nation." The programs relate the impact and challenges of science and technology to audiences around the world. She also is program director for information systems programs in the College of Professional Studies at the University of San Francisco.

* Haley, who received her bachelor's degree in aeronautics and astronautics in 1978, recently retired as special assistant to the commander of the Aeronautics Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. In her 29-year civilian career with the U.S. Air Force, she also served as chief information officer and executive director of Air Force Materiel Command. Her responsibility and accomplishments were recognized with a presidential award for meritorious service from President Bush in 2005. She also holds master's degrees in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Air Force Institute of Technology.

* Harris, a 1975 mechanical engineering Purdue graduate, is president and CEO of Campbell/Harris Security Equipment Co. in Alameda, Calif. While at Purdue, he was founding president of the National Society of Black Engineers, which is now the largest student-run organization in the country. Since 2002 Harris has chaired NSBE's national advisory board, which guides more than 27,000 members and chapters on five continents. He earned his MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1979 and serves on Purdue's College of Engineering Advisory Council.

* Pollock, who earned her degree in metallurgical engineering from Purdue in 1984, is the L.H. and F.E. Van Vlack Professor of Materials Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan. Pollock has won several national and international awards for her work. She earned her doctorate in materials science engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989. She taught at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh from 1991 to 1999 and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2005.

The National Engineers Week Foundation is a formal coalition of more than 75 professional societies, major corporations and government agencies. It was formed to ensure a diverse and well-educated future engineering work force by increasing the understanding of, and interest in, engineering and technology careers among young students and by promoting precollege literacy in math and science.

Purdue's College of Engineering is made up of 11 schools and departments: aeronautics and astronautics, agricultural and biological, biomedical, chemical, civil, electrical and computer, engineering education, industrial, materials, mechanical, and nuclear. The college also includes the divisions of construction engineering and management, engineering professional practice, environmental and ecological engineering, and programs such as Engineering Projects in Community Service, Minority Engineering Program Professional Practice Program and the Women in Engineering Program.

In addition to the more than 6,379 undergraduate students, the college enrolls 2,277 graduate students.

Writer: Clyde Hughes, (765) 494-2073, jchughes@purdue.edu

Source: Leah H. Jamieson,  (765) 494-5346, ljh@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Detailed biographies and photos of each recipient can be found on the College of Engineering Web site at https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/People/
Awards/DEA/DEA_2008

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