World-class faculty are at the heart of the Purdue University College of Engineering and the School of Industrial Engineering. Rising Star Professorships are awarded to Assistant or Associate Professors who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments and leadership in research, teaching and engagement. These professorships are a form of recognition awarded for a limited term of three years or until the awardee is promoted to Full Professor, whichever is earlier. The initial James A. and Sharon M. Tompkins Rising Star Professor is Dr. Juan Pablo Wachs.  

Tompkins is the founder, president and CEO of Tompkins International, and an international authority on supply chain strategy. He has spent more than 35 years as CEO of consulting/integration firms; written or contributed to more than 30 books; served as President of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, the Materials Management Society, and the College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education; and received more than 50 awards for his service to industrial engineering. Besides founding Tompkins International Consulting in 1975, he is the founder and chairman of Tompkins Material Handling integration (1999), MonarchFx (2015), SensorThink (2016), and Tompkins Robotics (2017).

Tompkins earned his BSIE (1969), MSIE (1970), and PhD (1972) from Purdue University. He was named both a Purdue IE Distinguished Engineering Alumnus (1999) and an Outstanding Industrial Engineer (1997). He also received the prestigious Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Industrial Engineering Award from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) in 2015. He currently serves on the IE Advisory Council and the Advisory Council of the College of Engineering.

"The engineering education I received at Purdue University is the building block upon which I have built my business, career and life," said Tompkins. "As the founder and chairman of an engineering-based consulting firm, I use my engineering expertise, my engineering problem-solving skills and my engineering tools constantly."

The Purdue University School of Industrial Engineering is very grateful to Dr. & Mrs. James A. Tompkins for their support of the school, its faculty and its mission.

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