Dr. Haghighi received the 2009 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Distinguished Service Award, and was recognized at the society's 2009 Annual International Meeting through a special session in which former students gathered to present research ("State-of-the-Art in Application of Finite-Element Numerical Solutions to Engineering Problems: A Session Honoring Pioneering Contributions of Professor Kamyar Haghighi of Purdue University) in addition to numerous other ASABE awards. Three times during his 16-year tenure, he was selected for the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award (1992, 1998, 2002). He served the department well as the ABET Coordinator and Strategic Planning Committee member among many other leadership roles.

 Under his leadership, the School of Engineering Education (ENE) launched the world's first PhD program in engineering education; attracted nationally and internationally recognized faculty; created INSPIRE, the Institute for P-12 Engineering Research and Learning; saw the ABET accreditation of the undergraduate Multidisciplinary Engineering Program; and transformed the First-Year Engineering Program with a design-focused curriculum aligned with the "Purdue Engineer of 2020" paradigm, integrating with the new Ideas to Innovation (i2i) Learning Laboratory.

 In 2009, the American Society for Engineering Education honored Dr. Haghighi with the Chester F. Carlson Award, which recognizes an individual innovator in engineering education who, by motivation and ability to reach beyond the accepted traditions, has made a significant contribution to the profession.