FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2007
FY07-25
Holder Joins ORAU Board of Directors
Oak Ridge, Tenn.—The Oak Ridge Associated Universities’ (ORAU) Board of Directors welcomed Gerald D. Holder as a new director at the 62nd annual meeting of the ORAU Council of Sponsoring Institutions held recently in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The board provides policy and fiduciary oversight of ORAU operations for its membership.
Holder currently serves as U.S. Steel dean of engineering and professor of chemical and petroleum engineering at the University of Pittsburgh and also represents the school on the ORAU Council of Sponsoring Institutions.
"ORAU has a long and rich tradition of facilitating scientific exchange between government, academe and industry," said Holder. "I believe such partnering is critical to the future of America’s technical leadership and am proud to have been selected to participate in the leadership of this vital organization."
Holder earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of Michigan in 1976 and joined the chemical engineering faculty at Columbia University the same year. In 1979, he came to Pitt and served as the chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering from 1987 to 1995. Holder became Pitt’s Dean of Engineering in 1996. At Pitt, he has received several awards for his research and teaching, including the School of Engineering Award for Outstanding Research and the Board of Visitors Faculty Award. Holder also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan, and an additional bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Kalamazoo (Mich.) College.
In 2004, Holder was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest federation of scientists. That honor was bestowed in recognition of his leadership and fundamental contributions to the development of thermodynamic properties and phase behavior in fluid-solid systems, especially in the area of gas hydrates. Some of his other awards include the Meritorious Achievement Award for Research and the Board of Visitors Faculty Award.
Holder has worked for and consulted with Exxon, General Motors, Gulf Oil, Amoco, Petrobras, Arco, Norsk Hydro, Allied Chemical, Alcoa, and many other corporations. He has served on more than 20 national panels or committees, including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the American Institute of Chemical Engineering, and the American Chemical Society, and on the boards of several corporations.
Other directors elected to the ORAU Board were:
- Sandra J. Degen, vice president for research, University of Cincinnati
- Brooks A. Keel, vice chancellor for research and economic development and professor of biological engineering, Louisiana State University
- Suzanne Laurich-McIntyre, assistant vice provost for graduate education, Carnegie Mellon University
- Felix A. Okojie, vice president for research development, support and federal relations, Jackson State University
- Winfred M. Phillips, vice president for research, University of Florida
- J. Paul Reason, admiral, United States Navy (retired)
- David D. Reed, vice president for research, Michigan Technological University
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of 98 major research institutions to advance science and education by partnering with national laboratories, government agencies, and private industry. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy.