CCM-Affiliated Faculty Appointed to Endowed Professorships

Of the four faculty members promoted to endowed professorships in the University of Delaware College of Engineering, three have strong connections to CCM. John W. Gillespie Jr., CCM Director, has been named Donald C. Phillips Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Suresh Advani, CCM Associate Director, has been named George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Norman Wagner, leader of the CCM shear-thickening fluids projects, has been named Alvin B. and Julia O. Stiles Professor of Chemical Engineering. The appointments were effective Sept. 1. Click here to view full story published September 9, 2005 in UDaily.

History of the Professorships

Donald C. Phillips Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

This Professorship honors Donald C. Phillips, an alumnus of the University of Delaware 's Class of 1948, who through his estate provided a generous gift to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Mr. Phillips, an army veteran of World War II, earned his bachelor degree in civil engineering and went on to lead an accomplished career as a construction engineer, retiring in 1984 after 20 years with Peter Kiewit Sons' Company of Omaha, Nebraska.

In addition to this Professorship, Mr. Phillips' gift has provided funding for a second professorship in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the establishment of a Department endowment, and support for the DuPont Hall expansion project. The civil and environmental engineering conference room and the bridge engineering laboratory housed in DuPont Hall have been named in honor of Mr. Phillips and in recognition of his generosity to the University of Delaware .

George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering

This Professorship honors the memory of George W. Laird, an alumnus of the University of Delaware 's College of Engineering . Mr. Laird obtained an A.B. degree at Hamilton College in 1964. He then attended the University of Delaware , where he was awarded a B.M.E. degree with highest honors in 1968 and an M.M.A.E. degree in 1971. George W. Laird was killed in a tragic accident on September 6, 1977 , at the age of thirty-five.

The funds for this endowment were provided through the George W. Laird Fund in Mechanical Engineering, which was established in 1991 through a gift from the George W. Laird Computer-Aided Engineering Foundation. This foundation was established in 1987 by Mr. Laird's father, Mr. William W. (Chick) Laird, to provide support to the University of Delaware 's Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Alvin B. and Julia O. Stiles Professor of Chemical Engineering

This Professorship honors the late Alvin B. and Julia O. Stiles, who provided a generous gift to the University of Delaware to endow this professorship in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Prior to joining the faculty of the University of Delaware Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr. Stiles worked for the E.I. DuPont Co., where he developed the catalyst for the commercial production of Nylon and was named a DuPont Research Fellow.  In 1996, Dr. Stiles received the University's Medal of Distinction, an award presented to individuals of the state and region who have made humanitarian, cultural, intellectual or scientific contributions to society, have achieved noteworthy success in their professions or have given significant service to the University, the state and the region.

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