Spring 2002

Arthur Western Named Vice President for Academic Affairs

Arthur B. Western has been named vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Rose-Hulman, a position he held on an interim basis since last June. 

Western has served Rose-Hulman is various capacities since his arrival on campus in 1986.  He started here as an associate professor of physics and applied optics.  He was promoted to professor in 1988, a position he still holds, and to head of the Department of Physics and Applied Optics in 1992.  He was promoted in 1999 to the post of associate dean of the faculty overseeing graduate studies and research.  Last June, he was appointed dean on an interim basis to fill the position vacated upon the resignation of Barry Benedict.

Areas of specialization for Western include solid state physics, microprocessor interfacing, applied optics and expository writing.  Research specialty areas include optical holographic interferometry and non-destructive testing.  Western was recognized as the Rose-Hulman Board of Managers Outstanding Scholar in 1995.

In addition to his administrative, teaching and research experience, Western brings a strong industrial background to the vice president’s chair.  He has consulted with companies such as Weyerhauser Co., Dow Chemical, Mountain States Energy and PASCO Scientific.

Prior to coming to Rose-Hulman, Western was on the faculty and head of the Department of Physics and Geophysical Engineering at Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology.  He holds a doctorate and a master’s in physics from Montana State University and a bachelor’s in physics from Rollins College.

“Art Western is a wonderful role model for his colleagues,” said President Samuel F. Hulbert.  “He is a wonderful lecturer, teacher and scholar.  We conducted a national search and interviewed four very distinguished educators for the post.  The consensus of the campus constituency was that Art Western was the ideal person to assume the post.

“His background as department head, associate dean and interim dean has shown him to be an excellent administrator.”

The appointment was made by the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees at its winter meeting last February.

New Faculty

Several new faculty joined Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology this year. As a brief introduction, Echoes provides a list of those faculty, their titles, and the colleges where they received their terminal degree.  Unless otherwise specified, the faculty member holds a Ph.D. from the college listed.

• Bradley T. Burchett, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, Oregon State University;
• Michael Cain, associate professor of applied biology and biomedical engineering, Cornell University;
• Kevin P. Christ, assistant professor of economics, Saint Louis University;
• Diane L. Evans, assistant professor of mathematics, Ohio State University;
• Bruce A. Ferguson, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, Purdue University;
• John Gardner, assistant professor of Spanish, University of Kansas;
• Marc Herniter, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, University of Michigan;
• Lance Hickey, visiting assistant professor of humanities and social sciences, Columbia University;
• Joshua B. Holden, assistant professor of mathematics, Brown University;
• Richard A. House, assistant professor of English, University of California;
• Scott Kirkpatrick, visiting assistant professor of physics and applied optics, master of science, University of Nebraska at Lincoln;
• William Kline, associate professor of engineering management, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;
• Thomas Langley, assistant professor of mathematics, University of California at San Diego;
• Clark T. Merkel, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, North Dakota State University;
• David C. Miller, assistant professor of chemical engineering, Ohio State University;
• Sharon G. Sauer, assistant professor of chemical engineering, Rice University;
• Sean Seymore, assistant professor of chemistry, University of Notre Dame;
• Mario Simoni, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology;
• Quibo “Richard” Ye, visiting assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, University of Manitoba.