WORCESTER, Mass. –February 19, 2009 -- Seven members of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) faculty have been promoted; in addition, six faculty members, including four of those who were promoted, have been granted tenure. The awards are effective July 1.
"I know the Board of Trustees and President Dennis Berkey join me in extending our sincere congratulations to these outstanding educators and scholars," said WPI Provost and Senior Vice President John A. Orr. "We are extremely proud to recognize their accomplishments and we look forward to their continued contributions to the academic and community life of WPI and their professions."
Mark Claypool has been promoted to professor of computer science. He joined WPI in 1998 and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2004. Since 2005, he has been co-director of WPI’s highly successful Interactive Media & Game Development degree program. Claypool has earned an international reputation for his research on the performance of multimedia networks and has received National Science Foundation awards for both his research and his work in educational innovation. He holds a BA in mathematics from Colorado College, and an MS and PhD in computer science from the University of Minnesota.
Joseph Duffy, associate professor of biology and biotechnology, has been granted tenure. He joined WPI in 2006 as an associate professor after serving as an assistant professor at Indiana University, Bloomington, and holding postdoctoral positions at Harvard Medical School and the University of Colorado. Duffy’s research focuses on cell-cell communication in development and disease, including the biology of cancer, lipid metabolism, and neuronal development. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation. He holds a BS in biological sciences from Cornell University and a PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Texas Graduate School.
Cosme Furlong has been promoted to associate professor of mechanical engineering and awarded tenure. He joined WPI in 1999 as assistant research professor in the Center for Holographic Studies and Laser micro-Mechatronics; he was named an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in 2003. A recognized expert in the area of optical test methodologies at small scales, he has recently begun to apply this expertise to the life sciences. Collaborating with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, he is studying the acousto-mechanics of the middle ear with support from the National Institutes of Health. He received a BE in mechanical engineering from the University of the Americas, Mexico, and an MS and PhD in mechanical engineering from WPI.
Wenjing Lou has been promoted to associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and granted tenure. She joined WPI as an assistant professor in 2003. Her research on wireless networks, particularly mobile ad hoc networks and sensor networks, won her a 2008 CAREER Award, the most prestigious honor bestowed on young faculty by the National Science Foundation. She is also well known for her research on wireless network security. Lou earned a BE and an ME in computer science and engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China, an MASc in computer communications at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and a PhD in wireless networks at the University of Florida.
Lauren Mathews has been promoted to associate professor of biology and biotechnology and awarded tenure. She came to WPI as an assistant professor in 2003 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University. An ecologist, Mathews conducts research on genetics in conservation biology and molecular ecology, specifically in the areas of phylogeography, evolutionary processes, and the evolution of social behavior. She holds a BA in zoology from Connecticut College and a PhD in environmental and evolutionary biology from the University of Louisiana.
William J. Martin has been promoted to professor of mathematical sciences. He joined the WPI faculty as an associate professor in 2000 and was granted tenure in 2003. From 2004 to 2006, he served as associate head of the Mathematical Sciences Department. He holds an affiliated appointment in the Computer Science Department. Internationally recognized for his research in algebraic combinatorics and its applications, he has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Security Agency, and the National Science and Research Council of Canada. He is a fellow of the Institute for Combinatorics and its Applications. Martin received a BA in computer science and mathematics and an MA in mathematics from the State University of New York, and a PhD in combinatorics and optimization from the University of Waterloo.
Jennifer Rudolph, associate professor of Asian history in the Department of Humanities and Arts, was awarded tenure. She joined WPI in 2007 as an associate professor after serving as an assistant professor at the University of Albany. She has been an associate in research at the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research at Harvard University since 2001. Specializing in the history of modern China, she is the author of the highly regarded book Negotiated Power in Late Imperial China: The Zongli Yamen and the Politics of Reform (2008, Cornell East Asia Series). She is currently writing a book on Taipei that analyzes the effects of colonialism on the development of the city. She holds an AB in Far Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago and an MA and a PhD in history from the University of Washington.
John Sanbonmatsu has been promoted to associate professor of philosophy in the Department of Humanities and Arts and granted tenure. He joined WPI as an assistant professor in 2003. A scholar in the areas of social and political philosophy, ethics, and the philosophy of the social sciences, he is the author of the 2004 book The Postmodern Prince: Critical Theory, Left Strategy, and the Making of a New Political Subject, which established him as a leading critic of postmodernism. He is currently completing a book on animal rights. Sanbonmatsu holds a BA in political science from Hampshire College and a PhD from the Department of the History of Consciousness at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Diane Strong has been promoted to professor of management. She joined WPI in 1995 as a visiting assistant professor and became an assistant professor the following year. She was granted tenure and promoted to associate professor in 2000. Strong has garnered international recognition for her research in information quality, a subdiscipline of Management Information Systems (MIS). She recently received a grant from the National Science Foundation to support her current research on the use of electronic health records systems in physician offices. She holds a BS in computer science and mathematics from the University of South Dakota, an MS in computer and information science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and an MS in Systems Sciences and a PhD in information systems from Carnegie Mellon University.
