Gregory Adel honored with emeritus status
Gregory Adel, professor of mining and minerals engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of professor emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The emeritus title may be conferred on retired professors, associate professors, and administrative officers who are specially recommended to the board by Virginia Tech President Timothy D. Sands. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board receive an emeritus certificate from the university.
A member of the university community since 1982, Adel made significant contributions to the field of mineral processing in the areas of modeling, simulation, and control including the development of new processing technology and pioneering work in the use of video-based sensors for mineral processing analysis.
He participated in approximately $9 million in externally funded research projects resulting in more than 75 peer reviewed publications, numerous government and company reports, and five patents.
Adel served on numerous technical and administrative committees within the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration culminating with his leadership of the Mineral and Metallurgical Processing Division as division chair in 2000 and a member of the SME Board of Directors from 2000 to 2003.
His leadership in SME was recognized with the Mill Man of Distinction Award in 2001.
In addition, Adel was honored by the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers with the Mineral Industry Education Award in 2007 and by the Pittsburgh Coal Mining Institute of America with the Stephen McCann Award for Excellence in Education in 2004.
At Virginia Tech, Adel served as assistant department head from 1993 to 2008 and as head of the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering from 2008 to 2015.
During his tenure as department head, undergraduate enrollment grew by 50 percent, graduate enrollment nearly doubled, and research expenditures more than doubled. The department ranked as the largest mining engineering program in the country, producing more than 20 percent of all undergraduate mining engineering graduates and more than 30 percent of all Ph.D. mining engineering graduates in the United States.
In the classroom, Adel taught many different graduate and undergraduate courses in mining and minerals engineering and several sections of freshmen engineering courses in engineering fundamentals. He directed 11 master's degree and four doctoral degree students, and served on more than 100 master's degree and doctoral degree committees.
Adel received his bachelor's degree and master's degree from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.
