Distinguished and Named Virtual Ceremony 2020

[MUSIC PLAYING] MITCHELL E. DANIELS JR: I read once about a junior scholar who had to deliver a lecture in front of a very distinguished and esteemed colleague, and afterwards returned to his seat and rather nervously asked the senior professor how he thought the speech had gone, to which the answer was a very tactful. Well, you were concise. To which the young man said, well, I wished not to be tedious. And his senior colleague said, but you were tedious. I’ll try to be concise and not tedious today.

15:52 - Especially, because in this virtual format, I know lengthy talks can seem even longer than they were. Let me start by thanking and commending the organizers for bringing us together under the difficult circumstances of 2020. If someone can be too well organized, perhaps they are, I’m recording this weeks ahead of the event. And a lot could change in between. I hope we will all still be on campus and successfully pursuing both research and teaching. But that, of course, is not something we have taken for granted.

16:28 - Whatever occurs in the interim, there are two things that won’t change. One is our deep really matchless appreciation for excellence in the faculty whose collective skills and renown define our university. And so to all those being honored tonight, we say thank you. And congratulations on these recognitions, each of which was very richly earned. And another thing that will never change here is our special excitement about rising talents, rising stars who will be among tonight’s honorees.

17:08 - And so we’d like to make a special mention to each of you. Thank you for planting your academic flags at Purdue, and for the great careers you’re building, and for the work that led to your being singled out this evening. Ordinarily, when a distinguished or named professorship is awarded, it happens live and in person at the board of trustees. And our provost, J. Akridge, always gets a picture taken with the honoree, and then snatches the plaque away and points out that it’ll be delivered later at this event. Now, this year, apparently, even that won’t happen in the way we prefer, but I hope every honoree knows that our appreciation for you and what those plaques and these recognitions represent is really the highest form of praise that Purdue can bestow.

18:08 - You’re in somewhat the position, I guess, of our students who were deprived of their live commencements the last couple cycles. But just like them, you know that that does not diminish for a second. Our admiration for your work, your talent, and the excellence which led you to be on the docket this evening. So to each of you, profound thanks, congratulations, and we look forward to even greater accomplishments next year and the years beyond. JAY T. AKRIDGE: Hello, everyone. It’s a privilege to be part of this special virtual ceremony celebrating our distinguished and named professors administrators, and recognizing the achievements of our talented rising star faculty.

19:05 - First, I want to thank the office of special events and the Hall of Music staff for helping us pull together this virtual event for you. It’s important because our distinguished and named professors represent the very best of Purdue. And you’ve certainly earned our gratitude. I can’t say thank you enough, especially this year, for your many, many contributions to our University. When we gathered together for this ceremony last November in Fowler Hall, we couldn’t possibly have known we would in the academic year transforming our entire teaching enterprise to remote format, and then spend every day of the summer months preparing for a fall semester, where literally every aspect of campus life had to change.

19:49 - I can’t express enough how much I appreciate what you have done and what you are doing to ensure that the work of our university continues during this COVID 19 pandemic. I’ve always been grateful for the extraordinary work of our faculty in the best of times. And I’m humbled by your determination and generosity, what today are certainly some of our most challenging times. I’ve seen and heard and read about so many of you who have been providing extra support to faculty and staff members and to your students, to help mitigate the unexpected impacts of COVID 19. And I couldn’t be more impressed or proud to be your colleague.

20:32 - But with or without a pandemic, you’re being honored with named and distinguished professorships because of your commitment to providing an extraordinary education. Because of the depth and breadth of your groundbreaking research, and because of your impactful engagement locally and around the world in support of our land grant mission, because of you and the exceptional talents of your faculty peers, we’re ranked as one of the top public universities in the country. Having said that, there’s another kind of crisis that we need to address. Our nation has been rocked with racial tensions and unrest that were unleashed by the killing of George Floyd. We need to look hard at around campus and be sure we are removing barriers so that every individual can achieve their highest aspirations here. Racial inequality has no place at Purdue. Period.

21:27 - As I’m sure you know, our board of trustees has formed an equity task-force that’s being led by trustee and Purdue alumnus, Don Thompson. They’re focusing on identifying any structural, environmental barriers to the success of students, faculty, and staff of color. And specifically, the experience of Black boilermakers. They’ll be calling on many people, and we need your engagement. So I hope you’ll get involved. Your support of this effort is especially important, because you are leaders in our Purdue community.

21:57 - And when we confer your distinguished and named professorships, we’re acknowledging that leadership. As I’m sure you know, we could not bestow such recognition without the generous donors of Purdue. Many of these endowments come from alumni who have been successful in their careers and wish to give back to the college or school that made a difference in their lives. Endowments supporting name positions are very personal investments in Purdue. In other cases, donors have invested in particular research or teaching areas where they’ve developed a strong interest or passion.

22:30 - And of course, these are just as important and impactful. Some of our generous donors have joined us for this virtual ceremony. And to each of you, I want you to know, we all want you to know that your confidence in our faculty is deeply appreciated. Because of you, we’re able to make a difference in our students’ lives, enhance our communities, and find meaningful solutions to improve our world. Now, it’s my personal pleasure to introduce some of Purdue’s finest faculty and leaders, beginning with the named administrative appointments.

23:08 - These endowments have an enduring impact because they provide valuable funding to help us support university leaders as they realize their vision for the college, school, or program they lead. And gifts for administrative appointments help us attract the very best leadership to Purdue. Here are the named administrative appointments. SPEAKER 1: Brandon M. Fulk, the Walsh Group director of internships for the division of construction, engineering, and management leads the CEM program, recognized worldwide for its standard of excellence in experiential learning, and its significant contributions to the professional construction engineering industry. And boasting a 100% job placement record. In addition to carrying out the responsibilities of his directorship, Fulk is an advisor to engineering projects and community service, through which he set up one of the first global teams to design and fund an education center in Ecuador. William E. Griffel, the Albert P.

Stewart director 24:11 - of Purdue Musical Organizations, and Jack Calhoun director of the Purdue Varsity Glee Club conducts a force of melodic goodwill ambassadors, engaging audiences in our community, across the country, and around the world. Under his leadership, Purdue’s students have performed in South Africa, France, Germany, and Switzerland, even being invited to sing Sunday mass at Notre Dame Cathedral. He also produces and directs Purdue’s popular Christmas show, known for inspiring and entertaining an estimated 18,000 live audience members every year, and reaching millions more through public broadcasts. JAY T. AKRIDGE: Next, I’d like to introduce our rising star appointments. These are faculty who have demonstrated exceptional early career accomplishments in leadership and research, teaching, and engagement. Here are Purdue’s rising stars.

25:05 - SPEAKER 1: Lin Nan, the Gerald Lyles rising star professor of management addresses important issues in accounting research, primarily on the real effects of accounting information in markets and inside organizations. One of her most significant contributions is a series of studies on the interaction between accounting systems and aspects of the regulatory environment for banks. Taking a more integrated view of the regulatory environment to move the literature forward on these complex issues. Thanh T. Nguyen, the Lewis B. Cullman rising star associate professor of management is an internationally recognized figure in operations research and algorithmic game theory. His focus is on analyzing contracts and negotiations in supply chain networks, and developing algorithms for market design problems, with an influential body of work on innovative topics, including matching markets with complementarities and side constraints, and wireless spectrum sharing. Zhan Pang, the Lewis B.

Cullman rising star associate 26:15 - professor of management has made significant contributions to research within Purdue’s Reagan Street Center for health care engineering, focusing on the challenging and fundamental problems in operations management related to supply chain, price and revenue management, risk and decision analytics, and health care service operations. He is also an expert in stochastic dynamic programming, game theory, and statistical learning and optimization. Lin Tan, the Mary J. Elmore New Frontiers associate professor in data science is a trailblazer in the area of software dependability, impacting the functioning, safety, and security of computer operating systems. Her contributions to the field, specifically, the introduction of eye comment and document assisted symbolic execution, leverage various forms of software text for program code and within code comments, have advanced research and delivered an impressive suite of scalable techniques to avoid, detect, and fix software bugs. JAY T. AKRIDGE: Now we’ll turn to academic appointments. One of the great privileges I have during board meetings is presenting our named and distinguished faculty members to Purdue’s board of trustees.

27:37 - You represent excellence, and through your distinction, you play an especially important role in advancing our mission through mentoring, support, and leadership. You have set an example for others to follow. You truly set the standard for all of Purdue. I want to acknowledge the faculty whose appointments were affected by COVID 19. The ratification of some of our named and distinguished professors had to be modified at the board meetings to respect public health requirements.

28:07 - Some attended virtually, and for those who came to meetings, we had to forego the pleasure of shaking hands, presenting medallions, and taking photographs. The virus is indeed touching every aspect of our lives. And I want to thank these faculty members for their flexibility and their understanding. Here, now, are the named professorships. SPEAKER 1: Sasha Boltasseva, the Ron and Dotty Garvin Tonjes professor of electrical and computer engineering specializes nano-photonics, nano-fabrication, optical materials, and quantum photonics. Her interdisciplinary work merges nano-optics, materials science, quantum photonics, and machine learning to enable a new generation of devices for ultrafast, ultra thin optics.

28:56 - She has made groundbreaking contributions in the development of nano-photonic structures with unprecedented performance, demonstrating them with novel materials that have been thought highly unlikely prior to her work. Nikhilesh Chawla, the Ransburg professor in materials engineering has earned an international reputation for excellence in the emerging field of 4D material science, where he explores mechanical properties and material analytics to increase our understanding of material properties that are critical to performance in areas such as materials processing and design, corrosion protection, and modeling of fatigue properties. His research has impacted industrial processes, and is shaping the use of lab based materials characterization for predictive understanding of micro structure. Songlin Fei, the deans chair in remote sensing is a quantitative ecologist who specializes in forest ecology, invasion ecology, and geospatial analytics. His work provided empirical evidence, for the first time, of the divergent responses of deciduous and evergreen trees in response to climate change.

30:05 - He leads the integrated digital forestry initiative, and pioneered the application of aerial images to map invasive plants, and the use of low resolution LiDAR data for individual tree recognition and structural diversity measurement. Gregory S. Fraley, the Terry and Sandra Tucker family endowed chair in poultry science has received national recognition for both his research in poultry science and his teaching excellence. His focus on the physiology, immunology, disease and welfare of poultry, and his expertise is frequently sought after by duck industry stakeholders. His publications in high quality journals involve undergraduate and high school students. A clear demonstration of his dedication to training the next generation of poultry scientists.

30:55 - Chang Deng Hu, the Steve and Lee Ann Taglienti chair in pharmacy is a leader in epigenetic cancer biology and therapeutics, with international stature as both an individual investigator and a strong collaborator. His primary focus is on prostate cancer, where he has made pioneering discoveries that have opened entirely new research directions, such as his recent discovery of protein arginine methyltransferase 5 as a novel epigenetic regulator in prostate cancer cells. Alejandra J. Magana, the W. C. Furnas professorship in enterprise excellence has received national and international recognition in discipline based education research, developing new knowledge of how model based cognition in the STEM disciplines can be promoted by means of expert technological tools such as computation, modeling, and simulation. Her work has resulted in learning innovations derived from research at the undergraduate level, with permanent integration into courses at many institutions of higher education. Richard J. Makadok, the Brock Family chair in strategic management is an internationally renowned scholar, an accomplished leader in issues of strategy, including entry barriers, scale economies, forecasting, competitor intelligence, and sources of profit.

32:16 - His theoretical and empirical models have extended our understanding of the fundamentals of strategic management, measuring the elusive concept of organizational capability, and using these measures to predict the performance and strategic decisions of firms in order to test theories of competitive advantage. Mary Beth McNeil, the Esther Ellis Norton professor of library science is distinguished worldwide for her academic work in the areas of management practices, organization effectiveness, and leadership development for academic research libraries. Her work focuses on open access and the growing imperative for collaboration between institutions. In support of produce integrated data science Initiative, an initiative establishing integrated campus wide data science education ecosystem, she’s developing new methods for data management, data ethics, information literacy, and digital scholarship. Jennifer L. Neville, the Samuel Conte professor of computer science is a leader in the design and implementation of machine learning and data mining techniques relating to statistical biases and application to real world tasks.

33:28 - Her recent work has been on sampling properties of networks, where she uncovered serious flaws in existing sampling methodology. She not only expose the issues, but also proposed a series of techniques to address the problems, resulting in foundational contributions to the research community. Matthew W. Ohland, the Dale and Suzi Gallagher professor in engineering education is widely recognized as a master teacher, and an international expert in engineering education. His research based tools, such as the comprehensive assessment of team member effectiveness program have transformed the way we formulate teams of students, and the methodology by which individual student efforts are evaluated. His midfield database provides quantitative insights, leading to paradigm shifts in how we think about engineering diversity and student progress to degree.

34:22 - Anand Raghunathan, the Silicon Valley professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering is one of today’s leading academics in hardware for artificial intelligence, brain inspired computing, and hardware security. He developed Moses, the world’s first programmable security processor for mobile phones. And many of his pioneering contributions to hardware security are in wide use today. His current project with Purdue’s center for brain inspired computing, enabling autonomous intelligence, focuses on developing the next generation neural inspired algorithms and theory, neuramorphic computing fabrics and distributed intelligence. Riyi Shi, the Mari Hulman George endowed professor of applied neuroscience specializes in uncovering the mechanisms of central nervous system trauma, diseases, and instituting new treatments through innovative experimentation, and pioneering new strategies in the field.

35:18 - His landmark discoveries, one of which is the use of hydrophilic compound polyethylene glycol for repairing torn neuro membranes have become guiding principles for many researchers, leading to fundamental developments in his field. Lewis Tay, the William C. Byham chair in industrial organizational psychology is dedicated to advancing integrative theoretical conceptualization of well-being, and to studying the malleability of well-being and its determinants. He is researching the domain of methodology, where he focuses on measurement, with an emphasis on psychometric modeling, late in class analysis, and data science approaches. He is asking new questions and pushing the envelope in research on this subject, making major innovative contributions to research methods. Marcy H. Towns, the Bodner Honig professor of chemistry is a global leader in the chemical education field, focusing on best practices for educational approaches in undergraduate chemistry.

36:20 - Her work is instrumental in helping Purdue move toward a more student centered learning model. She is an expert in evidence based learning, and highly regarded for her work in digital badging and laboratory courses, which has significantly improved students confidence, knowledge, and experience with laboratory equipment. Christopher H. Uyeda, the Richard B. Wetherill associate professor of chemistry is nationally recognized in the field of organometallic chemistry. He has pioneered efforts to develop the unique catalytic behavior of specially designed ligands to promote the formation of nickel bonds, developing innovative new synthetic processes that utilize this catalyst class. And he has provided rigorous and detailed insights into the origin of the unique behavior of the catalysts. Richard M.

Voyles, the Daniel C Lewis professor 37:12 - in the polytechnic institute is an innovator in robotics and artificial intelligence software infrastructure for self adaptive systems in real time, and embedded systems that can ease the burden of programming and operation in highly uncertain settings. He founded and directs the Purdue robotics accelerator. He’s site director for the NSF center for robots and sensors for the human well-being, and leads the cyber animal systems thrust area of the Discovery Park center for the environment, all of which inform research and policy. Pablo D. Zavattieri, the Jerry M. And Lynda t. Engelhardt professor in civil engineering is a brilliant researcher whose focus is on the development of novel materials that exhibit paradigm shifting properties for applications that can impact the general field of infrastructure and lightweight structural materials. His contributions to micro mechanical modeling tools have provided a robust framework for materials, fracture mechanics, smart materials, structures, and smart composites, and have been adopted by such organizations as General Motors and Velcro companies. JAY T.

AKRIDGE: As part of our commitment to excellence 38:28 - and discovery, learning and engagement, Purdue awards named professorships to exceptionally original, creative, and productive faculty whose achievements have been internationally recognized, or have made a unique contribution to the university. These honors helped Purdue recruit and retain the very best scholars and researchers, and maintain the university’s preeminence among its peers. Our deepest Thanks to the donors who have made so many of these professorships possible. Finally, it’s my honor to present our distinguished professors. These faculty members have earned the distinguished designation for their exceptional intellectual contributions to their individual disciplines or fields, and advancing the overall mission of Purdue through outstanding instruction, leadership, scholarship, and peer recognition.

39:21 - These appointments represent a pinnacle of academic recognition at Purdue. We congratulate you on all you have accomplished, and we look forward to all you will accomplish as distinguished professors at Purdue. And now Purdue’s distinguished professors. SPEAKER 1: Ourania M. Andrisani, a distinguished professor of basic medical sciences, has achieved far reaching impact for her expertise in molecular biology of the hepatitis B virus, or HPV, a leading cause of liver disease, including cirrhosis and highly malignant liver cancer. Her paradigm shifting work, identifying aspects of the mechanisms by which proteins contribute to cell transformation and development has influenced how the broader field views HPV associated effects on cell physiology that can cause liver cancer. Michael A.

Campion, a distinguished professor 40:18 - in management, is one of the world’s most published and influential scholars in the field of human resource management and organizational behavior. For his empirical and scientific contributions to the field of industrial organizational psychology, he was awarded the prestigious distinguished scientific contribution award, which is given only to one scholar each year. His expert testimony on age discrimination has also been shared with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Deborah W. Knapp, a distinguished professor of comparative oncology and the Dolores L. McCall professor of comparative oncology, is one of the most respected and accomplished comparative oncologists in the field of veterinary oncology, with a focus on naturally occurring invasive bladder cancer in dogs.

41:07 - Her pioneering research established the key role of cyclooxygenase inhibiting drugs in the treatment of cancer in canines. This discovery has led to a 50% regression of aggressive bladder cancer, and in other cases, caused tumors to stop growing. Shelley M. Macdermid Wadsworth, a distinguished professor of human development and family studies, is a highly regarded authority on the resilience of military families. She has examined crucial aspects and outcomes of military service careers, warfare and traumatic combat, increased engagement of women in the armed forces, and military related disability and death. Her extensive studies have provided significant new information about the implications of military involvement on family well-being, and influenced research policy and professional practice associated with military service. Ajay P. Malshe, the R. Eugene and Susie E.

Goodson 42:07 - distinguished professor of mechanical engineering has an exemplary record of research, teaching, and entrepreneurship in bio inspired designs, advanced nano-materials, smart manufacturing and machining, surface engineering, and the packaging and integration of heterogeneous microelectronics systems. He has successfully moved his more than 70 commercialized products, all of which stemmed from his patented inventions of nano-materials and processes to large scale manufacturing, yielding millions in cost savings for major industries. Michael J. Manfra, a distinguished professor of physics and astronomy, is a world leading expert on the growth and transport properties of low dimensional semiconductor systems. Several of his current projects strive to provide the groundwork for the development of the quantum computer. As director of Microsoft Quantum Purdue, he and his team contribute to a global effort to solve quantum computing’s biggest challenges by studying hybrid systems of semiconductors and superconductors that may form the physical platform upon which a topological quantum computer is built. Karthik Ramani, the Donald W.

Feddersen 43:22 - distinguished professor in mechanical engineering is a pioneer in design and manufacturing computer aided design, machine learning, and computer vision. His research makes strong connections between machine learning and deep learning of geometric shapes, ultimately leading to intelligent and interactive interfaces for exploring new forms of robot-human machine interactions for design and fabrication. These technologies have a direct impact on such areas as workforce pre and reskilling programs, increasing human labor capacity, factory productivity and agility. Yung C. Shin, the Donald A. And Nancy G. Rosch distinguished professor of advanced manufacturing established Purdue’s center for laser based manufacturing, and is an international leader in the field. His emphasis is on the development of advanced physical insight into laser radiation with the material surface.

44:19 - This advancement in laser assisted machining has led to a better understanding of process material interactions and productivity enhancements, and has opened new methods of fabrication in industry. Marion K. Underwood, a distinguished professor of psychological sciences, is an internationally recognized scholar in social emotional development and peer relations. She was one of the first to study adolescent engagement with social media platforms. And her work has led to significant advances in our understanding of and approach to the challenging problems of social aggression and cyber bullying. Her research has shown the ubiquity of this type of aggression, its elevated importance among girls, and its negative psychological consequences, both in the short term and the long term. Trevor D. Woodley, the Andris A.

Zoltners 45:12 - distinguished professor of mathematics is the universally acknowledged leading authority on the Hardy Littlewood circle method and its applications to Waring problem and related topics. His work has been described as transformative, unexpected, and brilliant. He also developed a method called efficient congruency, that provides bounds on certain sums of exponential functions. His approach led to a complete solution to Vinogradov’s mean value theorem, first conjectured in 1935, leading to substantial recognition for his contributions in this area. Chenn Qian Zhou, the NIPSCO distinguished professor of engineering simulation is a renowned specialist in the application of computational fluid dynamics, in combination with advanced visualization technologies.

46:02 - She established the Center for Innovation through visualization at Purdue Northwest, creating the world’s first 3D virtual reality model of a blast furnace, which has led to improved efficiencies and savings for industrial organizations. Zhou has received high praise and recognition for her innovation in integrating advanced simulation and visualization technologies to create virtual worlds of real problems. We have come to the close our virtual celebration of excellence. Before we end, I want to add my personal Thanks to the colleagues, staff, family, and friends who have supported these outstanding faculty members. I know what an important part you play in the success of our faculty, and I’m deeply grateful to you as well.

46:53 - I look forward to the time when we can hold this event all together again in one place. Until then, I do hope this virtual experience has made you feel proud of your accomplishments, your peers, and your university. I know that I couldn’t be any prouder to serve as your provost. Thank you for tuning in. Hail Purdue and all of you. Hail, hail to old Purdue. All hail to our old gold and black. Hail, hail to old Purdue. Our friendship may she never lack. Ever grateful, ever true, thus we raise our song anew of the days we spent with you, all hail our own Purdue. [MUSIC PLAYING] .