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 PhotoRichard 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.

John White PhotoDennis 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.