August 31, 2007
Purdue Notebook
* Appointments and promotions:- Venkataramanan (Ragu) Balakrishnan has been named associate dean for research in the College of Engineering. Balakrishnan has served as interim dean in the Office of Research and Entrepreneurship in the college since May. He came to Purdue in 1994 as an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and was promoted to professor in 2003.
* Faculty and staff honors:
— Beverly J. Davis, an associate professor of organizational leadership and supervision, is a member of the National Visiting Committee for the National Center for Manufacturing Education and attended a meeting for the group in Dayton, Ohio, in August. Davis also is a contributor to Chapter 6 of a new book called "Terrorism Issues: Threat Assessment, Consequences and Prevention," Nova Science Publishers, which is due out this fall.
— The College of Technology's computer and information technology program has received its first accreditation from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, known as ABET. This is the first accreditation for the department's program because there were no accreditation criteria specific to information technology programs before this year. Purdue is one of the first universities to receive the accreditation for information technology programs evaluated against information technology-specific criteria. The program's accreditation is retroactive to October 2005, which means the program's graduates since that time are considered graduates of an accredited program.
— James Davidson, professor of sociology, received a Distinguished Hoosier award from the state of Indiana. The award was presented by Rep. Joe Micon in recognition of Davidson's contributions to the Indiana community. Davidson, who joined the Purdue faculty in 1968, specializes in the sociology of religion, specifically American Catholicism. He is the author or editor of 10 books and is often quoted in national news media. His most recent books are "American Catholics Today: The New Realities of Their Faith and Their Church" and "Catholicism in Motion: The Church in American Society."
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