Shih to step down as AAE head after completion of second term
Tom Shih, the J. William Uhrig and Anastasia Vournas Head and Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, will complete his second term and then step down from his headship effective August 2019.
Shih announced his intention at a faculty meeting in mid-August. He has requested a sabbatical before transitioning to full-time faculty duties in AAE.
“It has been an extreme honor and privilege to serve as the AAE head during the past nine years with this year being my 10th,” says Shih, who was hired in 2009 from Iowa State University to lead AAE. “I look forward to working with our new head who will take us to even greater heights and impact on learning, discovery and engagement.”
Purdue AAE is ranked consistently by U.S. News & World Report among the nation’s top Aerospace/Aeronautical/Astronautical engineering programs. The undergraduate program was ranked fifth this year.
The department also has grown considerably under Shih's leadership. In 2009-10, there were 575 undergraduate students and 341 graduate students. This fall, there were just over 800 undergrads, and graduate enrollment has increased from 341 to more than 500, with the number of Ph.D. students up from 105 to 210.
"We are immensely grateful for Dr. Shih’s decade-long service to Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Under his leadership, AAE’s student enrollment grew significantly while program quality was upheld and curricular innovations continued. Dr. Shih’s tireless engagement with alumni and strategic collaboration with industry and government partners have also enhanced the learning, discovery and engagement missions of the School. The national search for his replacement is now being carried out by an impressive search committee led by Dr. Rex Reklaitis, and I am confident that an outstanding leader will be identified to continue Purdue AAE’s legacy into an even brighter future,” says Chiang, the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering.
A national search for a new head has begun. Rex Reklaitis, the Edward W. Comings Professor of Chemical Engineering and courtesy professor of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy, is chair of the search committee. Committee members include AAE alumnus William Uhrig; Kathleen Howell, the Hsu Lo Distinguished Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and associate dean of Engineering; Karen Marais, an AAE associate professor; Michael Sangid, the Elmer F. Bruhn Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a professor of Materials Engineering; John Sullivan, professor and former head of AAE; and Rita Baines, AAE chief development officer.