U-M RECORD – Kon-Well Wang has been named the A. Galip Ulsoy Distinguished University Professor of Engineering, effective September 1, 2023. This appointment “recognizes his extensive and outstanding scholarly achievements, his commitment to excellence in education for his students, and his extensive contributions to the University of Michigan and beyond.”
The first Distinguished University Professorships were created in 1947 by the Board of Regents to recognize members of the faculty for exceptional achievement and reputation in their appointive fields of scholarly interest and for their superior teaching skills. An appointment to a Distinguished University Professorship continues to be one of the most prestigious honors conferred by the university upon a member of its faculty.
Each professorship is named in honor of an eminent individual—preferably one associated with the university—in the scholar’s same general field of interest. Professor Wang’s professorship is named in honor of A. Galip Ulsoy, a preeminent scholar in the field of dynamic systems and controls, who is mechanical engineering professor emeritus, C.D. Mote Jr. Distinguished University Professor Emeritus and William Clay Ford Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan.
Professor Wang is an internationally renowned scholar in the field of structural dynamics, vibration, and controls. His ground-breaking research centers on emerging adaptive structures and material systems that can alter their properties in real time, impacting a broad range of engineering functions, including vibration and noise mitigation, wave control, damage identification and energy harvesting.
“He is one of the most influential research leaders worldwide who has pioneered new classes of adaptive structures that transformed the field and launched path-breaking new directions of study harnessing cross-disciplinary sciences… Moreover, his basic research has had significant impact on new technologies with practical importance to industry and society,” wrote Michael J. Solomon, Dean and Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs–Graduate Studies at Rackham Graduate School and Chair of the Advisory Committee on Distinguished University Professorships, and Laurie K. McCauley, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, in their recommendation letter to the Regents.
Professor Wang is also the Stephen P. Timoshenko Collegiate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering. He served as chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 2008 to 2018 and as a division director at the National Science Foundation from January 2019 through 2020.
