Dean appoints Lucas Professor and Bello Chair in IME
10/4/2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Professor Andris Freivalds was recently appointed the Lucas Professor in Industrial Engineering and Professor Uday Shanbhag was appointed the Gary and Sheila Bello Chair by Amr Elnashai, Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of the College of Engineering at Penn State.
A member of the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME) faculty since 1980, Freivalds is a nationally recognized researcher in the field of human factors and ergonomics. He has published more than 80 refereed journal publications and has been the recipient of several million dollars of sponsored research.
He is a Fellow of both the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and has been the recipient of several College of Engineering awards, including the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society Outstanding Research Award, Outstanding Teaching Award, and Premier Teaching Award.
Freivalds has also interacted and supported nearly 80 industrial companies in Pennsylvania and surrounding areas in providing solutions to a wide range of productivity issues.
“Andy was selected as the Lucas Professor, as he possesses the ideal characteristics and qualifications, having an outstanding record of contributions to teaching, research, and public service in industrial engineering,” said Janis Terpenny, Peter and Angela Dal Pezzo Chair and head of the Marcus department. “He is a faculty member who is service-oriented and cares about the collective well-being of the department, and he continues to be a pioneer in global and online education.”
As Lucas Professor, Freivalds will coordinate and provide oversight of the department’s international/global presence and growth in teaching and research.
Alumnus Tom Lucas (‘76 I E) and his wife, Nicki, established the Lucas Professorship in 2013 with a $2.9 million endowment to the department.
Shanbhag was an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before joining the IME faculty in 2012. He is the co-director of Penn State’s Initiative for Sustainable Electric Power Systems (ISEPS), an interdisciplinary research initiative that aims to address the intricacies and challenges that emerge from the design, planning, and operation of the next generation of power systems and markets.
Shanbhag was awarded the A.W. Tucker Prize by the Mathematical Programming Society, and also earned the National Center for Supercomputing Applications Faculty Fellowship in 2006. He was the co-recipient of the Computational Optimization and Applications Best Paper Award (2007) and the Best Theoretical Paper Award at the Winter Simulation Conference (2013). Additionally, he was awarded the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award in 2012 from the operations research program within the engineering directorate.
“Uday was selected as the Bello Chair, as he has a well-established record of research and teaching interests in the area of energy systems, power systems, and energy policy,” said Terpenny. “He has repeatedly stepped forward to lead energy activities at Penn State and he has been an exemplary contributor to President Barron’s Energy Initiative. His leadership style is highly collaborative and supports faculty in multiple departments and colleges.”
As Bello Chair, Shanbhag plans to lead graduate and undergraduate research in energy systems and policy, and education initiatives both at Penn State and at State College Area High School. He will also hold a yearly Bello seminar and regular seminars and sessions in his role as co-director of the ISEPS.
The Bello Chair was established in 2013 through a $2.5 million endowment to the Marcus department from alumnus Gary Bello (’69 I E) and his wife, Sheila.
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Andris Freivalds
Uday Shanbhag
