October 9, 2009

Appointments, honors and activities

— Jason Mucher will join the College of Technology on Oct. 26 as director of communications. Mucher recently served as communications and media relations manager for the U.S. Olympic Committee. Prior to this, he spent nine years at Houghton College in New York as assistant director of public relations and then director of athletic communications. He is a member of Public Relations Society of America.

• Faculty and staff honors:

— Four Purdue University faculty members have been chosen to participate in the National Academy of Engineering's first Frontiers of Engineering Education symposium, Nov. 15-18 in Herndon, Va. Forty-nine of the nation's brightest young engineering researchers and educators have been selected to take part in the symposium. The faculty members are Cordelia Brown, Monica Cox and Krishna Madhavan, all assistant professors of engineering education, and Ann Rundell, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and electrical and computer engineering.

— William Zinsmeister, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, will receive the Gilbert Harris Award during the Geological Society of America's annual meeting Oct. 18-21 in Portland, Ore. The award is presented annually during the meeting by the Paleontological Research Institute in recognition of excellence in contributions to systematic paleontology and to a researcher who has made a significant contribution to the science.

— Bert A. Rockman, professor and head of the Department of Political Science, was elected a fellow to the National Academy of Public Administration. The academy's fellows address emerging issues and contribute to the intellectual and popular discourse on government. The principal criterion for selection is a sustained and outstanding contribution to the field of public administration through public service or scholarship. Rockman is a United States Presidential Scholar.

— Greg Frederickson, professor of computer science, received a Pólya Award from the Mathematical Association of America at its annual Mathfest meeting Aug. 7. Established in 1976, the George Pólya Award is given for articles of "expository excellence" published in "The College Mathematics Journal." Frederickson received the award for his 2008 article, "Designing a Table Both Swinging and Stable."

— Mindy Hart, department of computer sciences outreach coordinator, was elected to the board of the Computer Science Teachers Association. The CSTA board develops model curriculum and works to effect policy for computer science education. Hart fills one of two national at-large positions on the board.

• Alumni honors:

— Purdue's School of Mechanical Engineering has named six alumni as 2009 Outstanding Mechanical Engineers. They are:

* Linda Blevins, Germantown, Md., senior technical adviser in the U.S. Department of Energy Office of the Deputy Director for Science Programs. She has a doctorate from Purdue.

* Ken C. Decker, Lafayette, Ind., patent attorney consultant. He has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Purdue.

* Willis W. Gardner, Waukesha, Wis., retired vice president of Waukesha Bearings Corp. He has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering.

* N. Wayne Hale Jr., Friendswood, Texas, deputy associate administrator for strategic partnerships for NASA. He has a master's in mechanical engineering from Purdue.

* George A. Richards,  Morgantown, W.Va., focus area leader of energy systems dynamics for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory. He has a doctorate from Purdue.

* David M Wathen, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., president and CEO of TriMas Corp. He has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Purdue.

More information on the honorees is available at https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/People/OME/index.htm  

• Student honors:

— Dance partners Josef Conner and Yitian Chen, members of the Purdue Latin & Ballroom Dance Club, won two first-place awards for their competition categories in the Heartland Classic in Indianapolis on Oct. 3. They competed in the Amateur Adult Novice Latin and the Amateur Adult Pre-Champ Latin categories.

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

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