Purdue trustees ratify faculty and staff positions, approve resolutions of appreciation and namings

The newly ratified positions are:

• Myeong Hwan Kim, who was named the Paul E. Shaffer Chair in Finance at Purdue Fort Wayne.
• Alejandro Strachan, who was named the Reilly Professor of Materials Engineering.
• Matthew Huber, who was appointed the David E. Ross Director of the Purdue Institute for a Sustainable Future.

Kim has been a professor of economics at Purdue Fort Wayne since 2008. His research and scholarly interests include international economics, international trade theory and policy, trade organization, economic integration and globalization, economic growth and development, financial economics, international finance, and political economy. His current research is focused on international economics and the development of research that integrates the areas of finance and open economy macroeconomics. Kim has published 36 peer-reviewed articles – seven of which are single-authored – in relevant academic journals and is the co-author of the textbook “Economics.” He aided in starting cooperative education ventures with Seoul Women’s University, Namseoul University in Korea and the National School of Political Science and Public Administration in Romania. Kim is a member of the American Economic Association and the Korea-America Economic Association, and he serves as the editor of the Journal of Global Business and Trade.

Strachan is a professor of materials engineering and a leader in computational materials science. His research has made contributions to multiscale materials modeling and theory and their combination with data science to simulate the materials’ behaviors. Research areas of interest include energy-based materials, metallic alloys for high-temperature applications, materials and devices for nanoelectronics and energy, and polymers and their composites. Strachan came to Purdue in 2005 and currently serves as the deputy director of nanoHUB, through which his work with materials simulations and data sharing won him the R&D 100 Award, a prestigious honor normally awarded to Fortune 500 companies and national labs for the year’s most revolutionary developments in science and technology.

Huber is a renowned researcher whose work is recognized internationally for its far-reaching global conclusions on Earth’s habitability, resilience and sustainability on long horizons. He brings a rich body of leadership and research experience to this directorship, drawing from his current role as director of the Purdue Institute for a Sustainable Future, his previous position as director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center and his extended engagement and leadership roles in the worldwide climate change science research community.

In other action, trustees approved resolutions of appreciation for friends of the university who recently contributed $1 million or more to Purdue. Those are:

• Jeannie and James Chaney, to support the College of Pharmacy.
• William and Barbara Rakosnik, to support the School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Health and Human Sciences, and University Residences.
• Emmett Kilgariff, to support the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
• Glen and Patty Daigger, to support the Lyles School of Civil Engineering.
• Walter and Erika (d. 2023) Gautschi, to support the College of Science.
• Leslie J. Raffel Foundation, to support the College of Engineering.
• Kurt and Lily Sendek, to support Intercollegiate Athletics.
• Kyle and Jake Allen, to support the College of Pharmacy.
• Katherine and Graham Draughon, to support the College of Veterinary Medicine.
• Nancy Fey, to support the College of Pharmacy.
• Tom Howatt, to support the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business.
• Peter and Kathryn Matuszak, to support the Lyles School of Civil Engineering.
• Carolyn and Gary Planck, to support the College of Liberal Arts and Purdue Musical Organizations.
• Charles Wallrodt, to support the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
• An anonymous gift, to support Purdue Northwest.

In recognizing these donors, trustees further approved the naming of the Leslie J. Raffel Ideas, Synthesis, and Optimization Lab for Industrial Engineering in Dudley-Lambertus Halls and the Emmett Kilgariff Undergraduate Wing in the Max W & Maileen Brown Family Hall, home to the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Trustees also approved the naming of the new Kampen-Cosler North Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.

Additionally, trustees approved resolutions of appreciation for William J. Bell, who served as Purdue vice president for human resources from 2018-23, and for Mark T. Gee, who served as the university’s 24th student trustee from 2021-23.

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