MSU engineering college names new endowed professors
August 24, 2005
August 24, 2005
Five members of the Mississippi State faculty are new appointees to endowed professorships in the university’s James Worth Bagley College of Engineering.
They include:
–Mechanical engineering professor David L. Marcum,
–Electrical and computer engineering professor Robert J. Moorhead II,
–Electrical and computer engineering associate professor Noel N. Schulz,
–Mechanical engineering department head W. Glenn Steele, and
–Computer science and engineering professor Rayford B. “Ray” Vaughn Jr.
The college currently has 23 endowed faculty positions, including 14 endowed chairs and nine endowed professorships. The new endowed positions were formally recognized during a recent investiture dinner.
Marcum, Moorhead and Vaughn all were named to professorships honoring Billie J. Ball of Starkville, professor and head emeritus of the electrical and computer engineering department.
These professorships were established earlier this year by Jean and Jim Bagley to acknowledge the impact Ball had on the engineering college and the university, and to perpetuate excellence in research and teaching.
A native of Louin and Laurel, Ball served on the MSU faculty from 1964 until his retirement in 1992. His leadership and support provided a substantial foundation for the National Science Foundation-MSU Engineering Research Center–now known simply as the ERC–that was established in 1990.
Marcum, a 1985 doctoral graduate of Purdue University who came to MSU in 1991, currently serves as director of the ERC/Computational Simulation and Design Center. Over the years, he has generated nearly $4 million as a principal research investigator and been co-principal investigator on an additional $6.5 million in externally funded research.
Moorhead, an MSU faculty member since 1989, directs the university’s Visualization, Analysis and Imaging Laboratory. A 1985 doctoral graduate in electrical and computer engineering of North Carolina State University, he formerly served as deputy director of the ERC/Computational GeoSpatial Technologies Center.
Vaughn, who joined the MSU faculty in 1997, directs the university’s nationally recognized Center for Computer Security Research. A 1988 doctoral graduate of Kansas State University and a retired Army colonel, he formerly served as a senior computer scientist with the National Security Agency.
Steele is the Bobby Shackouls Professor in Engineering, a position established in 1998 by the Burlington Resources Foundation to further advancements in research, education and service within the engineering college. Steele’s endowed chair is named for the 1972 MSU chemical engineering graduate now serving as president and chief operating officer of Burlington Resources Inc., one of the world’s largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies.
Steele, who joined the state’s largest land-grant institution in 1979, also is one of the university’s William L. Giles Distinguished Professors. A 1974 North Carolina State doctoral graduate, he is the author of two books and has been principal or co-principal investigator on 31 NASA research contracts totaling $7 million.
Schulz was named to the Tennessee Valley Authority Professorship in Power Systems Engineering, established by TVA in 2000 for a professor in electrical and computer engineering. Focusing on research and teaching power systems and energy systems, her professorship was instituted to provide leadership in the areas of power generation, distribution and management.
Schulz, who joined the MSU faculty in 2001, specializes in research centered on the application of computers, including intelligent systems, to solve problems in power systems operations. She earned a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1995.