Missouri University of Science and Technology professor receives President's Award for Leadership

Award recognizes faculty who provide exemplary leadership to one of the four University of Missouri System campuses

ROLLA, Mo. – On behalf of the University of Missouri System, Missouri University of Science and Technology Provost Robert Marley today awarded the last of ten UM System President’s Awards to be presented to faculty in 2017 to Ming Leu, Bailey Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Marley—in front of colleagues gathered for a graduate symposium—surprised Leu with the President’s Award for Leadership, which includes a $5,000 prize. The award recognizes faculty who have provided exemplary leadership to one of the four UM System campuses through commitment to excellence and integrity in their leadership roles.

“Dr. Leu’s contributions go way beyond the tremendous accomplishments in his leadership and scholarship,” Missouri S&T Vice Provost for Research Krishna Krishnamurthy wrote in his nomination letter. “He leads by example and his passion and tireless efforts to make a difference are clearly demonstrated in his role as the director of two research centers, ISC and CAMT, that are advancing engineering science and solving significant real world problems as well as fostering collaboration among faculty from a number of departments.”

The Center for Aerospace Manufacturing Technology (CAMT) as well as the Intelligent Systems Center (ISC) accelerate the research, development and transfer of advanced manufacturing technologies to the U.S. aerospace supply chain. Under Leu’s leadership, the ISC has one of the highest returns-on-investment of any center at S&T averaging approximately 12 externally sponsored grant dollars for every internally invested dollar.

“I believe the hallmark of Ming’s career has not only been consistent funding, scholarly production and graduate student mentoring but his desire to include others in his success,” wrote James Drallmeier, Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor. “The leadership he has shown in his research centers has created a cooperative and productive environment among faculty across the campus and encouraged several industries to come partners in growth.”

Leu has been widely published including 410 referred publications in technical journals and conference proceedings, one e-book, nine book chapters, five U.S. patents and eight edited volumes of conference proceedings. Leu has also delivered more than 300 technical presentations. Since joining Missouri S&T, he has obtained more than $28 million in external grants.

Throughout his career, Leu has supported 40 junior faculty members and post-docs through collaborative projects and team proposals and has mentored 26 Ph.D. students and more than 90 masters students through to graduation.

“Few faculty on this campus have had as much impact on the development of young researchers as Ming. As an example, Ming handed over the reins of CAMT to an eager, high-performing, associate professor in 2015,” wrote Drallmeier. “To relinquish the directorship of the robust consortium that he created clearly illustrates Ming’s leadership and attentiveness to the growth of others.”

Grants obtained by Leu have enabled research for the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, Ford Motor Company, Lockheed Martin Company, and many others.

“Dr. Leu clearly stands out as a leader in the field of advanced manufacturing technologies as proven by his extensive collaborative research work with industry, as wells as being selected to lead Missouri S&T’s Advanced Manufacturing Best-in-Class strategic hiring initiative,” wrote nominator Kamal Khayat, director of the Center for Infrastructure Engineering Studies. “This is an area of vital importance to our nation’s manufacturing competitiveness and Ming has made great strides to further the state-of-the-art in this field.”

The UM System President’s Awards are presented annually to faculty members across the four campuses of the UM System who have made exceptional contributions in advancing the mission of the university. Leu will be formally recognized by UM System President Mun Choi during an awards celebration to be held in June.

Left to right: Provost Marley, Professor Ming Leu and Professor Drallmeier