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Phillip Cornwell Named Vice President of Academic Affairs
July 6, 2011
Phillip J. Cornwell, one of Rose-Hulman Institute of
Technology's most decorated professors, has been named Vice
President of Academic Affairs. He has been a member of the
mechanical engineering faculty since 1989.
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Phillip J. Cornwell
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In his administrative role, Cornwell will assist President Matt
Branam in setting academic strategic objectives that will keep the
college at the forefront of undergraduate engineering, science and
mathematics education.
"Phil has earned our confidence as an individual who has proven
himself by excelling in the classroom, in his profession and as a
campus leader. Although we will be losing one of our greatest
professors, we will be significantly stronger as his influence
becomes magnified across campus and across the world as our
academic leader," stated Branam in making the announcement.
"I am sure that his intelligence, work ethic and passion for our
mission will become instrumental as we develop a better
understanding of Rose-Hulman's place in the dynamically changing
environment of higher education."
Cornwell is one of a select group of Rose-Hulman professors to
have earned the Dean's Outstanding Teacher Award (2000) and Board
of Trustees' Outstanding Scholar Award (2001). He has had the
best paper and presentation in the mechanics division at five
American Society of Engineering Education annual conferences.
He also is a former recipient of the Society of Automotive
Engineers' Ralph R. Teetor Education Award as an outstanding young
engineering educator and he received the Rose-Hulman Triangle
Fraternity's Teacher of the Year Award.
A Princeton University educated scholar, Cornwell has
been co-author of a
best-selling textbook on dynamics, and has spent several summers as
a visiting faculty member and collaborator at the U.S. Department
of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). At LANL he
has worked in the area of structural health monitoring and has been
a mentor for the Los Alamos Dynamics Summer School.
"I know I will miss teaching, but I look forward to serving the
Rose-Hulman community in this new capacity," stated Cornwell in
accepting the appointment. "I believe we have great faculty,
staff, students and alumni, and I will strive to preserve and
enhance the qualities that make Rose-Hulman special. Our
mission -- to provide the world's best undergraduate engineering,
science and math education in an environment of individual
attention and concern for the student is unique and must remain our
rallying cry as we move forward."
Cornwell believes Rose-Hulman cannot rest on its laurels, but
must continually strive to improve the curriculum and how it
educates and prepare students to be successful in the
future.
"The primary measure of Rose-Hulman's success should always be
the success of its students," said Cornwell, adding that he
believes that the college needs to have a broader impact on
undergraduate engineering, science and math education.
He also asserted that Rose-Hulman's best days are
in the future.
Cornwell earned his doctorate and master's degrees in mechanical
and aerospace engineering from Princeton University, after
graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in mechanical
engineering from Texas Tech University. The Los Alamos, N.M.,
native and his wife, Rachel, have two sons. The family lives
in Terre Haute, Ind.