Ellen Lackey, Ph.D., professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Mississippi, has won the 2015 Professor of the Year Award from ASTM International, a global standards development organization.

“Dr. Lackey’s commitment to engaging and inspiring her students is extraordinary,” says James Thomas, president of ASTM. “Her students benefit greatly from how she teaches the value of standards and the standards development process. I’m confident that her students will make major contributions through ASTM over the course of their careers, as she herself already has.”

The ASTM Professor of the Year Award recognizes and rewards the contributions of educators in developing students’ understanding of standards. Lackey was nominated by several of her colleagues from academia and industry.

“Dr. Lackey’s innovative integration of standards development into composites education over the past several academic years is unique in this field,” says Dr. James Vaughan, director of the Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence at the University of Mississippi. “By bringing projects to the classroom, her students have the unique opportunity to not only learn about, but to also participate in, the real-world activities of the standards development process.”

Lackey incorporates standards into her curriculum, using her experience as a member of ASTM Committee D20 on Plastics to stress the importance of engineering standards. Research by her graduate and undergraduate students has helped Subcommittee D20.18 on Reinforced Thermosetting Plastics with standards development. An active ASTM member since 2010, Lackey’s contributions to the committee have resulted in new industry standards.

Lackey is an Ole Miss graduate herself, earning a bachelor’s in engineering, a master’s in mechanical engineering and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the university. She joined the faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1995 and was promoted to full professor in 2010. Lackey has received several teaching awards, including the University of Mississippi ASME Student Section Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Teacher Award seven times.

Today, there are over 5,000 ASTM student members from more than 70 countries who take advantage of the opportunity to be involved with ASTM while completing their undergraduate and graduate degrees. Join for free at www.astm.org/studentmember.

ASTM Staff Contact: Jim Olshefsky, tel +1.610.832.9714, jolshefsky@astm.org
Media Contact: Nathan Osburn, tel +1.610.832-9603, nosburn@astm.org

Release #9921