Donald N. Merino appointed to the prestigious Alexander Humphreys Chair of Economics of Engineering
A Stevens Institute of Technology professor and alumnus, Dr. Donald N. Merino has been appointed to an endowed chairmanship: the Alexander Crombie Humphreys Chair of Economics of Engineering. Merino is a renowned scholar, former corporate executive and founder of groundbreaking programs in engineering and technology management. He has served as a tenured full professor at Stevens' Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and also at Stevens' Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management. He will occupy the Humphreys Chair in both schools.
Merino's appointment was approved at the February meeting of the Stevens Board of Trustees. The five-year appointment becomes effective Sept. 1, 2002.
"An appointment to the Humphreys Chair is a distinct honor, placing one in a company of distinguished forebears," says Jerry MacArthur Hultin, dean of the Howe School. "I can't think of anyone more deserving of the honor than Don Merino."
The chair, endowed in 1952, is named for Stevens' past president Alexander Crombie Humphreys, a graduate of Stevens' Class of 1881, who served from 1902 to 1927. The chair was created in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Humphreys' ascent to the presidency at Stevens. Humphreys is credited as a founder of the field of Engineering Economics, which in many ways prefigures Stevens' current innovation-to-implementation educational philosophy of Technogenesis®.
Merino is the founder of the Bachelor of Engineering and Engineering Management (BEEM) program in the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering at Stevens. The BEEM program won the Academic Excellence Award from the American Society of Engineering Management (ASEM) the first time that award was conferred. BEEM was the first EM program accredited by the Accreditation Board of Engineering Technology (ABET) under new guidelines. It is one of only three nationally accredited programs today. The others are at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the University of Missouri, Rolla.
Merino is also the founder of the Executive Master of Technology Management (EMTM) program at Stevens. That program has won the Academic Excellence Award for graduate programs from the ASEM the first time it was given. He is also past Conference Chair, President Elect, President, Past President and now a Director-at-Large of the ASEM.
In addition, he has held numerous professional posts with the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), including Past Newsletter Editor, Secretary/Treasurer, Program Chair, Chair, Past Chair, and Awards Chair of the Engineering Management and Engineering Economics Divisions. He is currently the chairperson of the editorial board of The Engineering Economist.
Merino earned his doctorate in Managerial Economics (1975) at Stevens, where he also obtained his Master of Science in Industrial Management in 1963 and his bachelor's degree in Engineering in 1960.
Merino is the only individual to have won the Bernard Sarchet Award twice: First from the ASEM, which is the highest award given by that organization, and then from the Engineering Management Division of the ASEE, also the highest honor bestowed by that organization.
Merino and his doctoral advisor at Stevens, 1931 alumnus Dr. Arthur Lesser, Jr., were recipients of the ASEE Centennial Award in Engineering Economy in 1993. Lesser was the founding editor of The Engineering Economist and also occupied the Humphreys Chair at Stevens.
"I received the Mobil Incentive Fellowship to pursue my doctorate," says Merino. "I could have gone anywhere in the world on that fellowship to complete my dissertation. I chose to work with Dr. Lesser, because he was simply the best. It is a humbling experience to assume the chair once held by my mentor and friend Dr. Lesser."
Merino has personally endowed the Humphreys-Innes-Lesser Award in Engineering Management for outstanding undergraduate performance in the Stevens EM program. It is given annually at commencement.
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.
Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.
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