Margaret Wooldridge, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Walter J. Weber, Jr. Professor of Sustainable Energy, Environmental and Earth Systems Engineering, has been named a senior fellow of the Michigan Society of Fellows.
The Society of Fellows, under the auspices of the Rackham Graduate School, was founded in 1970 by seven U-M faculty members, including then-president Robben Fleming, and draws together fellows from across all scholarly and artistic fields to stimulate cross-disciplinary awareness and exchange. Out of these conversations come new ideas, new methodological experiments, and even new collaborative projects.
Senior fellows help to create a spirited intellectual community and serve as models, mentors, and colleagues for the society’s postdoctoral fellows. They also help to select the newest cohort of postdoctoral fellows, participate in monthly dinners at which all the fellows present their newest work, and recommend a new cohort of senior fellows each year.
When asked how she felt about receiving this honor, Wooldridge said, “I am deeply honored by this recognition. The Michigan Society of Fellows is an amazing community! Hearing about the creative and important work being led by others at Michigan helps me reflect on my own contributions and how diverse topics can find intersections that amplify impact. I am thrilled to interact with this group and broaden my horizons, and hopefully I will be able to shed light on new ideas for the other fellows.”
Wooldridge studies high-temperature chemically reacting systems which are critical to widespread applications, including synthesis methods for advanced materials, power and propulsion generation, and chemical processing. Her research program spans these diverse areas and focuses on experimental studies to enable major developments in materials, fuel chemistry, and combustion devices.
The full list of senior fellows named this year can be found in the University Record.