Janet Twomey
BENDER OF TWIGS INDUCTEE 2019
Jan Twomey and I have known each other since she began as an assistant professor at
WSU in Industrial Engineering. We quickly discovered our joint interest in the study
of systems – and more specifically – the interactions between the environment, technology,
life and culture. Since then we have continued to be friends and lifelong colleagues
meeting every Sunday for brunch at Jimmy’s. Here are some highlights of Jan’s work
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Jan began her career at WSU with a personal goal to always pursue research in areas
of national need, and improve the academic culture for women in STEM (students and
faculty). To that end, she has coauthored over 70 peer reviewed journal articles and
conference proceedings, and has received funding totaling over $5 mil., the majority
of which has come from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of
Energy (DOE) at full overhead. Jan received WSU’s first NSF Faculty Early CAREER award
for her work in neural networks and sparse data sets. As principle investigator (PI)
of awards from the NSF and DOE, Jan initiated research in environmentally benign manufacturing,
green wind energy, and sustainable healthcare services. Those awards were used to
support new research areas in sustainability by seeding the work of over 20 faculty
and 30 students. The National Institute of
Standards and Technology has adopted the framework developed by Jan and her colleague
Michael
Overcash, to account for the environmental impacts of manufacturing unit processes
(UPLCI). Jan’s
work received international recognition through invitations to organize and speak
at workshops on
reverse logistics at INSEAD in Fontainebleau France, on green manufacturing in San
Carlos Brazil, wind
energy in Cairo Egypt, and women in engineering in Istanbul Turkey. These were supported
by the NSF.
Jan’s students are continuing to work in these areas as academics in the US and abroad.
Three of her
9 PhD students were female. Jan was a Program Officer for Manufacturing Enterprise
Systems at the
National Science Foundation from 2001 to 2004.
In 2015, Jan accepted a position as the Associate Dean for Graduate Education, Research
and Faculty
Success in the College of Engineering. In this position she continues to pursue her
goals in research
and increasing the diversity of students and faculty in engineering. She serves on
the board of the
Environmental Genome Initiative, has given talks on healthcare services sustainability
at Yale’s School
of Medicine, written two invited articles for a special edition of Resources, Conservation
& Recycling, is
the WSU PI of the Kansas NSF Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program,
and the PI of
NSF ADVANCE Catalyst: A Catalyst to Increase the Representation and Advancement of
Women and
Underrepresented Minorities in Academic STEM Careers at Wichita State University.
Dorothy Billings
Professor Emeritus, Anthropology
SME: SP/SRAP
Updated: 11/26/2019 SRAP