Two engineering faculty members honored with doctorates
By Robert EmroTwo Cornell College of Engineering professors have received honorary doctorates for their contributions to research and education.
Cornell Professor John Hopcroft will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Sydney. The IBM Professor of Engineering and Applied Mathematics, Hopcroft is being recognized for his research contributions to theoretical computer science and his work in developing countries.
As a volunteer for the Vietnam Education Foundation, Hopcroft has worked to improve science and technology education in that country. Each year he travels to the Southeast Asian nation to help institutions develop curricula and to interview students hoping for one of 100 fellowships offered by the foundation to support study in the United States. Working for the World Bank, he has also helped Chile build its science program by making recommendations on research spending.
A former dean of Engineering, Hopcroft will offer brief advice to engineering students in Sydney at the May 16 ceremony. "When there's a time of change, it's a time of opportunity to position one’s self to be a leader in a new direction," he said. "When I graduated in '64 from Stanford and started my career at Princeton, they asked me to develop a course in computer science. That made me one of the first computer scientists, so I didn't have to wait for the senior people ahead of me to retire."
Hopcroft's research centers on theoretical aspects of computing, especially analysis of algorithms, automata theory, and graph algorithms. His most recent work is on the study of information capture and access. He was honored with the A. M. Turing Award in 1986. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Association for Computing Machinery.
Cornell Professor Mike Shuler will receive an honorary doctorate in engineering from the University of Notre Dame at its commencement.
The James M. and Marsha McCormick Chair of Biomedical Engineering and Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Chemical Engineering, Shuler is being honored for his innovative, groundbreaking research in the biochemical engineering field—which has led to unprecedented advances in cell modeling and pharmaceutical production—and for remaining a committed teacher of young students entering the field.
Shuler will be attending the May 18 ceremony as one of nine distinguished alumni. "It's the first time I've received an honorary doctorate, so that's special," he said. "It also will be a lot of fun for me to go on back. My younger son is working on getting a Ph.D. at Notre Dame too, but I'm going to beat him."
Shuler has been a member of the Cornell faculty since 1974 and has earned two teaching awards. He has received the inaugural James E. Bailey Award from the Society for Biological Engineering, the Amgen Award in biochemical engineering and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
