University of Minnesota's Dr. Avram Bar-Cohen Named New Department Chair

Professor Avram Bar-Cohen of the University of Minnesota has been named Chairperson of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and will assume his new position effective January 7, 2002.

Professor Bar-Cohen has been with the University of Minnesota since 1989, where he is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Professor of Technology Management, Director of the Center for the Development of Technological Leadership, and holds the H. W. Sweat Chair in Technological Leadership. He has received his S.B., S.M. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Bar-Cohen has an impressive track record of accomplishments as an educator and a scholar. He is a Fellow of the ASME and IEEE and the recipient of numerous awards, including the 1998 ITHERM Achievement Award, the 1999 ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award, the 1999 ASME Curriculum Innovation Award, and the 2000 ASME Worcester Reed Warner Medal.

Professor Bar-Cohen will officially begin his duties as the department chair on January 7, 2002, however, he will make frequent trips to College Park during the Fall semester to get to know the faculty and staff, learn more about the operation of the department, and participate in important decisions that impact the future of the department. Dr. Davinder Anand has agreed to continue to serve as department chair until January 6, 2002.

In announcing this appointment to the A. James Clark School of Engineering, Dean Nariman Farvardin stated that he is "confident that in the years to come the department will achieve excellence and national recognition under Avram Bar-Cohen's leadership."

Published July 2, 2001