HOUGHTON--Dr. Michael Mullins has been named chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Michigan Technological University. Mullins has taught and conducted research at Michigan Tech since 1988. He was named professor of chemical engineering in 1994 and has served as interim chair of the department for the past year.

"I am really pleased that Dr. Mike Mullins has accepted the chair's position in the Department of Chemical Engineering," said Dean of Engineering Robert Warrington. "He was clearly an outstanding candidate in a national search that was conducted this past year. His credentials are excellent and he has already made a positive impact during this past year as the interim chair."

His research interests are in the areas of environmental thermodynamics and kinetics, glass and ceramic synthesis, particle technology, polymer-inorganic nanocomposites, and catalysis and reaction engineering. He has successfully directed more than 30 research projects with a value of over $7 million, supporting over 20 master's and eight PhD students. He has taught a wide range of undergraduate and graduate classes spanning most of the chemical engineering curriculum. He has served in many capacities within the department and university, including as chair of the departmental graduate and curriculum committees, on the University Senate, and as president of the Michigan Tech chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

Mullins received his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology; a Chemical Engineer's degree, a graduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester. He worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratories and the Research Triangle Institute and taught as an adjunct faculty at North Carolina State University before coming to Michigan Tech.

7/10/02--MTN076