Neal Houze - Office of Professional Practice - Purdue University

Cooperative Education at Purdue University evolved under the guidance of Houze, who served the program for 34 years. After earning his PhD from the University of Houston, Houze joined the Purdue faculty in 1969 and continues to serve as a professor in the School of Chemical Engineering. He was coordinator of the Co-op Program in the School of Chemical Engineering as recently as 2007.

Houze first became involved with the Co-op Program in 1973 when he began a 10-year stint as coordinator of the program in the School of Chemical Engineering. In 1982, he was named director of the Co-op Program of the Schools of Engineering, and in 1984 was named director of Purdue University’s Cooperative Education Program. In this position, he influenced and impacted thousands of students and cultivated relationships with just as many corporate partners.

In 1989, Houze was honored with the Alvah K. Borman Award by the Cooperative Education Division of the American Society for Engineering Education. He has played a prominent role in cooperative education at the national level, serving as chairman (1984-85), archivist (1986-2002), executive board member (1993-2002) and awards committee chair (1995-2002) of the Cooperative Education Division of the American Society for Engineering Education. Houze also served as the founder, organizer and moderator of the Cooperative Education Leadership Forum from 1987-96, and he has either authored or co-authored numerous published papers on the subject of cooperative education.

In his positions of leadership, Houze worked tirelessly to strengthen the academic integrity of the Co-op Program and helped employers develop quality opportunities for his students, encouraging all students to pursue the career-related work experiences that the program continues to make available to this day.