Robert G. Parker, professor and head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was recently named the L.S. Randolph Professor in Mechanical Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

The L.S. Randolph Professorship in Mechanical Engineering was established in 1985 to honor the person who served as Virginia Tech’s Dean of Engineering from 1913 to 1918 and for whom Randolph Hall is named. The professorship recognizes and rewards an outstanding faculty member in the College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Parker began as department head in December 2012. He had previously served as executive dean and Distinguished Professor Chair at the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute.

A well-established researcher in mechanical engineering, Parker has secured more than $10 million in external funding as principal investigator or co-principal investigator from several state and federal agencies and from industry. Among his research awards are the extremely prestigious PECASE and CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation and the Army Young Investigator Award.

Parker has published 88 peer-reviewed journal papers, 112 peer-reviewed conference papers, and has given 62 invited presentations. His papers are widely cited.

He is active in several professional societies, in particular, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. His professional activities include organizing and chairing conferences, serving as associate editor of ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, and serving as a technical reviewer for a number of leading journals.

He has won several major awards, including the ASME Gustus L. Larson Award and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award. He is a Fellow of the ASME and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Parker received his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a master’s degree and doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

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