Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering - Alumni and Faculty

Alumni and Faculty

The department claims numerous industry leaders among its graduates. Susan M. Sinclair (1993) and Allen L. Soyster are among those who have held the position of President of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE). Harold W. Gehman, Jr., a 1965 graduate, served as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Joint Forces Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic until he retired in 2000. In 2003 he was appointed to head the investigation of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Business leaders who have graduated from the department include Gregory Lucier (1986), the President and CEO of Invitrogen, and Edward M. Kasody, president and CEO of American Trim, a joint venture of Superior Metal Products and Alcoa.

The department's faculty includes former department head and IIE fellow A. "Ravi" Ravindran, the author of several textbooks in the area of operations research, and Harriet Black Nembhard, the winner of the 2004 Armand V. Feigenbaum Medal for her work in quality engineering. Other faculty members who are fellows of professional organizations like IIE or the Society of Manufacturing Engineers include Jose A. Ventura, and Robert C. Voigt. Former faculty include Amos E. Neyhart, a traffic safety education pioneer and creator of the first driver education classes in the United States in 1933. Inyong Ham, a Penn State professor (1958–95) and an IIE Fellow, was known for his development of group technology and research on the use of computers in manufacturing and process planning. Another former faculty member, Benjamin W. Niebel, authored an introductory industrial engineering textbook, served as department head, and in 1976 won the IIE Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Award.