[https://marketing.purdue.edu/Email/TemplateSets/ChE/Templates/Template04/Images/che-engineering-logo-400-white-text.png]<https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE> Purdue University School of Chemical Engineering Graduate seminar series Dr. John Anderson Distinguished Professor and Emeritus President Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago "Trajectory of a Chemical Engineer: from Professor to University President and Safe Return" Tuesday, September 22, 2015 3:00 - 4:15 p.m. FRNY G140 Reception at 2:30 a.m. in Henson Atrium Abstract: Universities are interesting and complex work environments, where many roles are possible and responsibilities are often ambiguously defined. We call ourselves "faculty" and "staff", as if there is a difference. But at the core universities are non-for-profit businesses where all the roles are important, and the mission of education, discovery and creativity is shared by everyone. Faculty experience coupled with appreciation of the mission of a university is good preparation for academic leadership. I will present some observations and opinions about career trajectories that cross the faculty/staff boundary leading to increased leadership and account-ability in a research university. An intriguing feature of academic career trajectories, not often found in the for-profit world, is the possibility of returning to one's roots as a faculty member after a foray into administration. Hence, a professor does not have to forego the love of profession forever and can make that "safe return" to the position that originally brought her to academe after serving as a university leader. Bio: John Anderson is Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology. From 2007-2015 he served as the president of Illinois Institute of Technology. He received a bachelor of chemical engineering at the University of Delaware and a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Illinois (Urbana). He has served on the faculties of Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University and Case Western Reserve University. His past academic leadership positions include chair of biomedical engineering, department head of chemical engineering and dean of engineering at Carnegie Mellon, and provost and executive vice president at Case Western Reserve. At Carnegie Mellon he was also University Professor, Gulf Professor of Chemical Engineering, and the (first) Robert Mehrabian Endowed Chair in Engineering. As a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, he was visiting professor at MIT. He has also held visiting professorships at Landbouwuniversiteit Wageningen (the Netherlands) and the University of Melbourne (Australia). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Other honors include the Acrivos Professional Progress Award of AIChE, the National Engineering Award of AAES (nominated by AIChE), and appointment to the National Science Board (2014-2020). His research and teaching interests are in membrane separations, electrokinetic phenomena, colloids and polymers, fluid dynamics and diffusional processes. School of Chemical Engineering<https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE> Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47907 (765) 494-4050<tel:+17654944050> (c) 2015 Purdue University<http://www.purdue.edu/purdue/disclaimer.html> All rights reserved An equal access/equal opportunity university<http://www.purdue.edu/purdue/ea_eou_statement.html>