Three faculty members of the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt University have been awarded endowed chairs. Michael Goldfarb is the new H. Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Ronald Schrimpf is the Orrin Henry Ingram Professor of Engineering, and George M. Hornberger is the Craig E. Philip Professor of Engineering.
Three faculty members of the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt University have been awarded endowed chairs.
Michael Goldfarb is the new H. Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Ronald Schrimpf is the Orrin Henry Ingram Professor of Engineering, and George M. Hornberger is the Craig E. Philip Professor of Engineering.
“These are terrific faculty members – internationally known for their research and scholarship – who are good teachers and excellent mentors of students. We are fortunate to have them at Vanderbilt,” said Kenneth F. Galloway, dean of the School of Engineering.
“I am very pleased that we can acknowledge their contributions in this way. I am grateful for the generosity of the Flowers family and the generosity of the Ingram family who make this possible,” Galloway said.
Goldfarb joined the faculty in 1994. He is director of Vanderbilt’s Center for Intelligent Mechatronics. His research activities focus on design, modeling and control of electromechanical devices. Currently, he is perfecting a rocket-powered prosthetic arm and hand that promises to give amputees a fast, powerful and responsive bionic arm. This project is funded under the Defense Advanced Research Project’s Agency’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics program.
Schrimpf joined the faculty in 1996. His research focuses on microelectronics and semiconductor devices. In particular, he has a very active research program dealing with the effects of radiation on semiconductor devices and integrated circuits.
Schrimpf is the director of the Institute for Space and Defense Electronics. The engineering staff of ISDE performs design, analysis, and modeling work for a variety of space- and defense-oriented organizations.
Hornberger is an international leader in hydrology and environmental engineering and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He joined the engineering faculty in 2008 as a University Distinguished Professor. He also holds an appointment in the College of Arts and Science as a professor of earth and environmental sciences.
As the director of the newly created Vanderbilt Institute of Energy and Environment, he will foster interdisciplinary work among faculty and students in law, economics, business, the natural and social sciences, the humanities and engineering, focusing on basic and applied research. Hornberger is president of the American Geophysical Union Hydrology Section.
The H. Fort Flowers Chair in the School of Engineering was created through the generosity of the Flowers family to honor the late H. Fort Flowers, a Vanderbilt alumnus and highly successful engineer, inventor, manufacturer and philanthropist. Flowers invented the side-dumping gondola railroad car for transporting and delivering bulk materials. He founded the Differential Steel Car Company to manufacture these cars, which were widely used by railroads, mining operations and steel mills. Flowers held more than 80 patents. A former vice president of the Vanderbilt Alumni Association, he was awarded the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award in 1975, posthumously.
The Ingram family gifts to Vanderbilt grow out of a nearly 50-year association with the University. Orrin Henry Ingram served on the Board of Trust from 1952 to 1963 and founded what became one of the nation’s largest privately held corporations. His son, E. Bronson Ingram, was elected to the Board of Trust in 1967 and served as Board chairman from 1991 to 1995. Bronson Ingram’s wife, Martha R. Ingram, is the current chair of the Board of Trust.
The Craig E. Philip Chair in Engineering was created recently by the Ingram family to honor Mr. Philip, who is president and CEO of Ingram Barge Company, and a member of the School of Engineering’s Committee of Visitors.