ISE alumni honored for stellar careers

Lehigh’s department of industrial and systems engineering (ISE) takes pride in the accomplishments of its students and alumni, who pursue a wide range of careers, from the world’s leading financial institutions to analytical operations research.

At its recent annual banquet in Iacocca Hall, the ISE department honored two alumni for career achievements.

Arthur F. “Pete” Veinott Jr. ’56 was named the 2012 Distinguished Alum for Excellence in Academia, while Timothy J. Wilmott ’80, ‘81G was named 2012 Distinguished Alum for Excellence in Industry.

Veinott, professor emeritus of operations research at Stanford University, former Guggenheim Award recipient and member of the National Academy of Engineering, gave two talks as part of the Spencer C. Schantz Distinguished Lecture Series: “Optimal and Near Optimal Supply Policy for Deterministic Multiperiod Supply Networks” and “Polytime Computation of Strong and n-Present-Value Optimal Policies in Markov Decision Chains.”

Wilmott, president and chief operating officer (COO) of Penn National Gaming Inc., has established the Timothy J. Wilmott ’80 Endowed Faculty Chair in Industrial Engineering and supported renovations to Mohler Lab, the department’s home.

“I couldn’t be more pleased”

“A Lehigh education is a great foundation to do whatever you want to do in your career,” said Wilmott, who has worked 25 years in the casino industry. “It’s very humbling to be back here at Lehigh, seeing some old professors I remember very fondly from my time here in the ’70s and early ’80s. I’m much honored to be here.”

The ISE department also honored Robert Storer, professor of industrial and systems engineering, as ISE Faculty of the Year.

“It’s humbling to win the award,” said Storer, who has served 25 years on the faculty and is co-director of the integrated business and engineering (IBE) honors program.

“The students are what make this a great job. I look forward to the fall every year when they come back, and they’re just a great bunch of kids—bright, energetic and enthusiastic.”

One of those students, Lorand Dragu ’12, received the distinguished senior IE award. Dragu, who will remain at Lehigh to work on a master’s degree in industrial and systems engineering through the Presidential Scholar program, has excelled in the classroom while volunteering with the department during his undergraduate career.

“Winning the award is a very pleasant surprise. I’ve enjoyed being a part of this department; it’s a great group to be around,” said Dragu, a member of the Alpha Pi Mu honor society. The lessons he’s learned as a student, he says, will serve him well in industry, a sentiment echoed by Wilmott.

“The information I deal with, and the techniques I learned at Lehigh in operations research, information technology, motion and time study, I use today in trying to make decisions to run my business better,” said Wilmott.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with the foundation I got here.”

Photos by Christopher Elston