The annual Distinguished and Named Professorship Ceremony featured bestowal of medallions by Jay Akridge, interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity, who led the ceremony. President Mitch Daniels attended and gave remarks.

Akridge and Daniels spoke about the importance of such positions and talked about the ways that they help send a positive and strong message about the University and Purdue’s commitment to faculty excellence. They also acknowledged the essential support of the donors who made these positions possible.

From the Distinguished and Named Professorship Ceremony: (front row, from left) Sangtae Kim, Donna Fekete, Paul Griffin, Donna Riley, Julia Laskin, Tom Shih and Susan Watts, (back row, from left) Jay Akridge, Mung Chiang, Jan-Anders Mansson, Jeffrey Dukes, Jayson Lusk, Kipling Williams and Richard Kuhn. Not pictured: Seungjin Kim, Valerie Knopik and George Wodicka.

The 16 appointees, all ratified by the Board of Trustees during the past year, are:

• Jan-Anders Mansson — Distinguished Professor of Materials and Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering.
• Jeffery Dukes — Belcher Chair for Environmental Sustainability, College of Agriculture.
• Valerie Knopik — Ben and Maxine Miller Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, College of Health and Human Sciences.
• Richard Kuhn — Trent and Judith Anderson Distinguished Professor of Science, College of Science.
• Julia Laskin — William F. and Patty J. Miller Professor of Chemistry, College of Science.
• Jayson Lusk — Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Economics, College of Agriculture.
• Susan Watts — Emanuel T. Weiler Professor of Management, School of Management.
• Kipling Williams — Distinguished Professor of Psychological Sciences, College of Health and Human Sciences.
• Mung Chiang — John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering and Roscoe H. George Professor of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering.
• Donna Fekete — John and Donna Krenicki Director of the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Discovery Park.
• Paul Griffin — St. Vincent Health Chair of Healthcare Engineering, Discovery Park.
• Sangtae Kim — Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering.
• Seungjin Kim — Capt. James F. McCarthy, Jr. and Cheryl E. McCarthy Head of the School of Nuclear Engineering, College of Engineering.
• Donna Riley — Kamyar Haghighi Head of Engineering Education, College of Engineering.
• Tom Shih — J. William Uhrig and Anastasia Vournas Head of Aeronautics and Astronautics, College of Engineering.
• George Wodicka — Dane A. Miller Head of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering.

After the presentation of awards, Akridge spoke of the pride that Purdue has in these faculty members. He drew attention to the contributions that these individuals have made to the University, in their research fields and, more broadly, to our world.