William Baeslack Named Interim Vice President for Research

WILLIAM BAESLACK NAMED INTERIM VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH

COLUMBUS -- William A. "Bud" Baeslack III, an associate dean 
of The Ohio State University College of Engineering, has been 
named interim vice president for research at Ohio State.

The appointment, announced Tuesday (5/19) by Interim 
President Richard Sisson, follows the March 20 death of Edward F. 
Hayes, who served as Ohio State's vice president for research for 
seven years.  Subject to Board of Trustees approval, the 
appointment is effective immediately.

Baeslack, 46, has served as associate dean for research and 
college development in the College of Engineering since 1994.  
Also a professor of industrial, welding and systems engineering, 
he joined the faculty in 1982.  He chaired the Department of 
Welding Engineering from 1991 to 1994 and was director of the 
National Excellence in Materials Joining Education and Training 
Program at Ohio State during the 1994-95 academic year. 

Baeslack and his staff have initiated or facilitated 
development of several major research-related activities at Ohio 
State, including a collaborative effort with the Edison Welding 
Institute to establish the Edison Joining Technology Center.  
Other partnership initiatives include the Gas Turbine Research 
Center, several National Science Foundation centers, the 
Ergonomics Institute and, most recently, a Federal Aviation 
Administration Center of Airworthiness Assurance. 

"Bud Baeslack is an internationally recognized expert in 
materials engineering and is an administrator of outstanding 
skill and achievement," Sisson said.  "He has received numerous 
national awards for excellence in teaching and research, and has 
been awarded his department's outstanding teaching award four 
separate times, as well as the college's prestigious Lumley 
Research Award three times."

President-designate William E. Kirwan said, "I have met with 
Professor Baeslack and was impressed by his commitment to the 
highest-quality research, to the work of the Research Commission 
of which he is a member, and by his administrative experience, as 
well as his understanding of the workings of the Office of 
Research."

Baeslack's other appointments have included a year as a 
visiting scientist at The Welding Institute in Cambridge, 
England, in 1989-90, and service as an ASEE visiting faculty 
research fellow at the David Taylor Naval Ship Research and 
Development Center in Annapolis, Md., in 1985.  After four years 
of service at the Air Force Materials Laboratory at Wright-
Patterson Air Force Base, Baeslack has continued service as a 
project engineer and senior materials scientist for the Air Force 
Reserves since 1983.

"I am pleased and honored to have the opportunity to serve 
the university in this important capacity, to build upon the many 
accomplishments of the late Dr. Hayes, and to support Interim 
President Sisson and incoming President Kirwan during this 
critical period of institutional transition," Baeslack said. 

Baeslack is recognized as an authority on the materials 
science and engineering aspects of joining advanced materials, 
including titanium, aluminum and nickel-based alloys, 
intermetallics and metal-matrix composites.  He has received more 
than $6 million in grants from federal and state agencies and 
industry, and is a consultant for several aerospace and 
manufacturing companies.

He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in welding 
engineering from Ohio State in 1973 and 1974, and his Ph.D. in 
materials engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 
1978.  His national awards include the Comfort A. Adams Lecture 
Award, the American Welding Society's highest award for 
significant lifetime research contributions to the field of 
materials joining.  An active member of several professional 
societies, he also is a Fellow of The Welding Institute, ASM 
International and the American Welding Society. 

Baeslack noted that as the university's chief research 
officer, he will emphasize that research and scholarship are key 
components of the educational mission at Ohio State.  "High-
quality research enhances the quality and relevance of our 
teaching, attracts outstanding undergraduate and graduate 
students to our academic programs, and brings top-notch faculty 
to our campus, all of which are among the important concerns 
raised by the university's Research Commission," he said.  

"Furthermore, our performance of cutting-edge research is 
critical to Ohio State meeting its land-grant responsibility 
through its impact on the quality of life of Ohio's and the 
nation's citizens, and the economic competitiveness of our 
business and industries."

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Contact:  William Baeslack, (614) 292-2986