News

TROY, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has announced the appointment of Rensselaer Professor Prabhat Hajela, Ph.D., to the position of vice provost and dean of undergraduate education. Hajela, professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering, is internationally recognized for his significant achievements in engineering research and education, and his active service in leadership roles and professional societies.

TROY, N.Y. — Robert Palazzo, professor and chair of the Department of Biology, has been appointed director of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, effective immediately. He had been serving as acting director of the Center since last spring.

 TROY, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute joined 14 other universities in the U.S. today to mark the formation of the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The consortium of research centers is connected via a high-performance Internet network designed to shift the emphasis of earthquake engineering research and education from traditional physical testing to integrated experimentation and model-based simulation.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. — On Nov. 4, 2004, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Darrin Fresh Water Institute found three settled juvenile zebra mussels on plates that were removed from the Ticonderoga Boat Launch Site (see fact sheet).

TROY, N.Y. — Angel E. Garcia, a renowned theoretical physicist in biomolecular research, has been appointed a senior constellation chaired professor in biocomputation and bioinformatics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Garcia will join Rensselaer on Jan. 1, 2005.

Smith To Deliver Presidential Lecture on Nov. 11 TROY, N.Y. — Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president, and CEO of FedEx Corporation, has been named the 2004 William F. Glaser ’53 Rensselaer Entrepreneur of the Year. Smith will deliver a presidential lecture titled “Challenges of Businesses Competing in the Global Marketplace,” on Thursday, Nov. 11 at 3:30 p.m. at the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies on the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus.

TROY, N.Y. — Jonathan Dordick, the Howard P. Isermann ’42 Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been selected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dordick is one of 308 newly selected fellows recognized for their efforts to advance science or its applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished, according to AAAS. The announcement was made in today’s issue of Science.

TROY, N.Y. — Governor George E. Pataki today announced that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is one of five universities in the state to receive faculty development awards to attract world-class scientists to New York State. Rensselaer has been selected to receive two $750,000 awards.

Conference to be held on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at Rensselaer’s Troy Campus   TROY, NY — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship today announced that Dr. Mae Jemison, the founder of two technology companies and the first African American female astronaut to travel into space, will give the keynote address at its “Women of Diversity Entrepreneurship” Conference on Wednesday, Nov. 3.  The conference will also include a discussion with three other women entrepreneurs.

Troy, N.Y. — William “Al” Wallace, professor of decision sciences and engineering systems at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, received the 2004 Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) President’s Award for critical contributions to the public sector resulting from his research in information and decision technologies, according to INFORMS. Wallace received the award today at the society’s annual meeting in Denver, Co.