Department of Industrial Engineering
4207 Bell Engineering Center
1 University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Phone: (479) 575-3156
Fax: (479) 575-8431
College of Engineering Celebrates Outstanding Faculty
Two Industrial Engineering Professors Recognized
On Wednesday, May 3, the College of Engineering held its annual faculty awards reception
at Carnall Hall. Six awards were given at the event.
“The purpose of this event was to celebrate the hard work and great achievements of
our faculty,” said engineering Dean John English. “These individuals have really gone
above and beyond in their dedication to students and to research, and it felt good
to let them know they’re appreciated.”
At the reception, Norman Dennis, senior associate dean, announced the Dean’s Excellence
Awards.
Richard Cassady, professor of industrial engineering, received the Dean's Award for
Public Service. This award is presented by the College of Engineering annually for
outstanding public service. The winner of this award is also the College of Engineering’s
nominee for the Alumni Association Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award for Outstanding
Public Service.
Cassady serves as Director of First-Year Engineering for the College of Engineering.
He led the creation of the program, which was intended to address concerns about the
retention and graduation rates associated with first-year engineering students at
the University of Arkansas. During his time as Director of the program, second-year
retention, four-year graduation, and six-year graduation rates (within the College
of Engineering) for first-year engineering students have increased by approximately
10 percent. His primary research interests include reliability engineering (with an
emphasis in equipment maintenance planning), statistical quality control, and strategic
decision-making in sports. His research has been supported by more than $2.5 million
in grants and contracts and has resulted in more than 25 journal articles, more than
35 conference papers, more than 70 seminars and presentations, 6 Ph.D. dissertations,
16 M.S. theses, and 5 B.S. honors theses. He teaches courses in reliability and maintainability
engineering, operations research, probability and statistics, and statistical quality
control. He joined the faculty in 2000.
Dennis also announced the winner of the John Imhoff Award for Teaching. The Imhoff
awards were established in 2004 by John Imhoff, former head and founder of the industrial
engineering department, to recognize faculty members who have excelled in research
and teaching in the College of Engineering. John White, Chancellor Emeritus and Distinguished
Professor of industrial engineering, received this award.
After serving for eleven years as Chancellor of the University of Arkansas, White joined the faculty of the Department of Industrial Engineering full-time in 2009. A distinguished alumnus of the department, he teaches leadership, engineering economics, facilities planning, and queueing systems. Over his 54-year career, John White has taught more than 5,000 engineering students. In addition to teaching, he contributes to student learning through his textbooks and published papers. Three of his six co-authored books have received book-of-the-year awards from the Institute of Industrial Engineers.
The success of his students is further evidence of White’s effectiveness as a teacher. Students taught or mentored by him have received awards at design contests, co-authored papers as undergraduates, been selected as University of Arkansas Seniors of Significance and received best paper awards at national conferences.
Dennis commented, “John’s students note his passion for the subjects he teaches, his
commitment to helping students grow intellectually, the high expectations he has for
students’ performance and his desire for students to share his love for learning.”
The full Newswire story can be viewed here.