Meet the ChE Alumni Board
The ChE Alumni Board (l/r): Somesh Nigam (MSE ’85, PhD ’88); Stuart Churchill (BSE ’42, MSE ’48, PhD ’52); Jim Street (BSE ’59, MSE ’61, PhD ’63); John Santini (BSE ’94); Pete Lederman (BSE ’53, MSE ’57, PhD ’61); Nancy (Berry) Agrawal (MSE ’94, PhD ’96); Craig Colling (MSE ’90, PhD ’95); Doris Engibous (BSE ’77); Max Pettibone (BSE ’68); Robert Ranger (BSE ’83). Board members not in photo, Dan Sajkowski (BSE ’81, MSE ’82) and Kevin Seibert (MSE ’93, PhD ’96).
The Chemical Engineering Department created an alumni board that met for the first time last October. The board’s mission is to provide advice and counsel to the department on issues important to students, faculty and alumni, to help the department continue to be one of the top chemical engineering departments in the world.
At its initial meeting, the board decided it could best serve the department by looking at the undergraduate curriculum, to see how well it prepares graduates for their careers, particularly those who will pursue industrial careers. In order to determine this, the board will gather feedback from alumni who are five years beyond their graduation. The board hopes to have initial survey results and some general suggestions to present this fall.
The department requested that the alumni board look at new means of obtaining outside support, which is important in light of potentially reduced federal funding and state budget woes. They hope to have some suggestions in fall on this as well.
The board, which will meet annually, has a rotating membership with twelve members serving three-year terms. The current board, whose members were appointed by the department chair, includes alumni from diverse backgrounds and varying years of experience in the field. The current chair is Pete Lederman (BSE ’53, MSE ’57, PhD ’61).
If you are interested in serving on, or learning more about the alumni board, please contact Pete (908-665-0359, pblederman@comcast.net) or Sandy Swisher (734-764-7413, sandys@umich.edu). If you have any ideas of projects the board should undertake, please send those to Pete Lederman so that they can consider them at the fall meeting on October 12.
Article from the 2007 Chemical Engineering Newsletter.
