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National Academy of Engineering member to join UNT faculty
DENTON (UNT), Texas -- One of the country's top engineering professors and researchers will join the University of North Texas as a full-time professor. Alan Needleman, who has been at UNT as a visiting professor since spring 2007, has accepted an offer to remain at UNT as a professor of materials science and engineering. He will retire from Brown University, where he has worked since 1975. Needleman, who is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, was elected last year to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Other members elected last year include former Vice President Al Gore, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and New York Mayor and Businessman Michael Bloomberg. Needleman also has honorary doctorates from The Technical University of Denmark and Ecole Normale Superior de Cachan (France). "UNT's commitment to growing our research productivity rests on successfully expanding our faculty ranks to include additional nationally recognized scholars. Bringing Dr. Needleman full time to UNT's College of Engineering is an important step in fulfilling our commitment," said Wendy K. Wilkins, provost and vice president of academic affairs. "As a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Dr. Needleman is among our country's best scholars, and I am proud that UNT's engineering students and faculty colleagues will benefit from his ideas and expertise. And I know that our College of Engineering is thrilled to have UNT's first national academy member among its faculty." Needleman's main research interests are in the computational modeling of deformation and fracture processes in materials over a range of size scales from the nano to macro. He will be heavily involved with UNT's new Institute for Science and Engineering Simulation, which is a contract with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to research the performance of jet engines and assist the Air Force in developing stronger, more durable materials for planes. UNT received $2.2 million this year and expects to receive an additional $6.36 million next year. Needleman is a member of UNT's Center for Advanced Scientific Computing and Modeling (CASCaM). He will also be part of the university's materials modeling cluster, a collaboration of researchers across three departments that will develop tools to help scientists in a variety of applications, including reducing greenhouse gas in the environment and discovering new therapies for serious battlefield injuries. Needleman was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1977 and was awarded the Prager Medal by the Society of Engineering Science and the Drucker Medal by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Needleman said he was drawn to UNT because the materials science department is in the process of developing a world-class research and educational program. "There is a very exciting future here with a lot of possibilities," Needleman said. "It's stimulating and enjoyable to be a part of that."
UNT News Service Phone Number: (940) 565-2108
Contact: Sarah Bahari (940) 565-4835
Email: sarah.bahari@unt.edu
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