College of Engineering Dean Wayne Davis has had more than four decades of success at UT since his arrival on campus as a graduate student in 1971.
In recognition of his contributions as a researcher, teacher, and leader, he has been awarded one of the highest honors an engineering educator can receive: election as a fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education.
While the college has been a part of the organization since 1921, Davis joins John Prados, professor emeritus of chemical engineering, as the only two faculty members to be elected ASEE fellows.
Davis earned his master’s degree in environmental engineering in 1973 and his doctorate in civil engineering in 1975, both from UT.
He quickly became a leading expert on air quality and pollution control methods and helped write several textbooks on the topics that are still in use today.
The US Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, and Department of Transportation, along with the National Science Foundation and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, among other organizations, have all turned to him for expertise and involvement in air quality studies.
In fact, as recently as 2014 the People’s Republic of China invited him to speak in the face of the ongoing air quality crises there.
In addition to his research and teaching activities, Davis has played an integral role within the college, serving as associate dean for research and technology from 2003 to 2008 and as interim dean in 2008 before being appointed dean in 2009. He received the Chancellor’s Award for Research and Creative Achievement in 1994. In 2003, he served as Macebearer, the university’s highest faculty honor.
The ASEE acknowledged his continued impact when informing Davis of his selection, saying the nominating committee and voters applauded his research engineering education efforts.
Davis and ten other new inductees were formally introduced at the annual ASEE conference in New Orleans on Monday.
Davis is a recipient of the Lyman Ripperton Outstanding Professor Award from the international Air and Waste Management Association and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Professional and Environmental Practice. He has been secretary and treasurer of the Global Engineering Deans Council and was elected in 2014 as a board-certified environmental engineering member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineering and Science. He currently serves as a member of the editorial review board of Engineering, a journal recently established by the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
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CONTACT:
David Goddard (865-974-0683, david.goddard@utk.edu)