Drawing upon an impressive work history and exceptional education, Dr. Juh Wah Chen is a pronounced engineering educator with 40 years of experience to his credit. At the inception of his career in 1959, he served as an assistant professor at Bucknell University for six years. From there, he relocated to Southern Illinois University, where he began serving as associate professor in 1965. Working his way up to full professor soon thereafter, he also sat as chair of the Department of Thermal and Environmental Engineering and associate dean and dean of the College of Engineering. He retired from his roles of professor and dean in 1999.
During his tenure, Dr. Chen served his alma mater, National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, as a distinguished visiting professor from 1991 to 1992. A co-patentee in his field, he has further contributed a number of articles to esteemed journals. Among the notable highlights of his career, he is most proud of developing International Engineering Education with Eastern European countries in the 1980s and 1990s. Fortunately, the cooperation was very successful, and he was able to not only improve their facilities and quality of the programs, but also instill the spirit of improving upon engineering education.
Dr. Chen attributes his success to his doctoral advisor, Dr. Max Peters, who was his sole mentor. Dr. Peters served as head of chemical engineering at the University of Illinois, and later dean of engineering at the University of Colorado. Taking Dr. Chen under his wing, Dr. Peters encouraged him to be a terrific team member, advocate for independence and express his creative ideas. Dr. Chen has continued to follow his advice and wisdom through the present day, which he believes has made him into a more well rounded and successful individual.
A registered professional engineer in the state of Illinois, Dr. Chen has been recognized for his contributions. In 1996, he was named an Outstanding Alumnus of National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. Born in Shanghai, he now resides in Murphysboro, Illinois. In his spare time, he enjoys playing bridge.
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