Win Phillips to Receive ASME's Ralph Coats Roe Medal (4/12/05)

Winfred M. Phillips, vice president for research at the University of Florida, Gainesville, will be honored by ASME. He is being recognized for extraordinary contributions as an engineering educator, and for his leadership in promoting public awareness of the achievements of engineers. He will receive the Society's Ralph Coats Roe Medal.

The medal, established in 1972, recognizes an outstanding contribution toward a better public understanding and appreciation of the engineer's worth to contemporary society. It will be presented to Phillips during ASME's 125th Anniversary Heritage Day Celebration, which is being held at Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, N.J.), on April 7 and 8.

Phillips joined the University of Florida in 1988. In addition to serving as vice president for research, he is director and professor of mechanical engineering, and Don and Ruth Eckis professor of biomedical engineering. Previously, he served as dean of the Graduate School (1999-2004); associate vice president for engineering and industrial experiment station for the College of Engineering (1990-99); and dean and professor of mechanical engineering, and research professor of biomedical engineering at the College of Engineering (1988-99).

Prior to joining the University of Florida, Phillips held positions at Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.) from 1980 to 1988; Pennsylvania State University, University Park, from 1968 to 1980; and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, from 1965 to 1967. From 1976 to 1977, he was a visiting professor at the University of Paris, France.

Phillips has an exemplary record of leadership in all aspects of engineering education, throughout the engineering profession and in public policy. Dedicated to improving the public understanding of engineering, he served as president of the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) from 1995 to 1996 and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) from 1996 to 1997. His introduction of the first Outcomes Assessment Engineering Accreditation Criteria is now becoming a model for engineering education throughout the world. Phillips has authored over 155 research publications and lectured often on the role of engineers in modern and future societies.

A Fellow of ASME, Phillips has been extremely active in the Society since 1975. He has served on the Board of Governors (1994-98) and as ASME president (1998-99). In addition to holding other leadership positions while serving on numerous committees and councils, he currently serves is a trustee of the ASME Foundation.

Phillips is a Fellow of ABET and ASEE, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Astronautical Society, the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the New York Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society for Arts (England); and a member of various professional and scientific societies. He has also been appointed by President George W. Bush to serve a three-year term as a member of the Committee on the National Medal of Science.

Phillips received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, in 1963. In 1966 and 1968, respectively, he earned his master's and D.Sc. in aerospace engineering at the University of Virginia.




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