The bust of Evan Pugh, world renowned chemist and Penn State's first president, located in the lobby of Old Main. Pugh was president from 1859 until his untimely death in 1864 and his administration was the model for land-grant education nationwide. Credit: Patrick Mansell/Penn State.
Two College of Engineering faculty named Evan Pugh University Professors
May 8, 2026
Editor’s Note: A version of this article originally appeared on Penn State News.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Five Penn State professors, two of whom are within the College of Engineering, have been named Evan Pugh University Professors, an elite and prestigious distinction conferred by the University on only 84 faculty members since the establishment of the designation in 1960.Karen Thole, professor of mechanical engineering, College of Engineering, and Adri van Duin, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering, College of Engineering, are both newly bestowed with the University’s highest faculty honor, effective July 1.
The professorships are named for Penn State’s founding president, Evan Pugh, a renowned chemist and scholar who was at the helm of the University from 1859 to 1864.
"I am continually inspired by and proud of the extraordinary caliber and accomplishments of Penn State’s world-class faculty. Penn State’s Evan Pugh University Professors embody our commitment to excellence, innovation, creativity, discovery, scholarship and achievement at the highest level,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “I am deeply grateful to these five faculty members for advancing their fields, mentoring their students, and strengthening our University. It is my honor to recognize them as Evan Pugh University Professors.”
Karen Thole, a professor of mechanical engineering and inaugural director of Penn State's National Security Institute, poses for a headshot. Credit: Kate Myers/Penn State.
Thole, professor of mechanical engineering and inaugural director of Penn State’s National Security Institute beginning May 15, is an international leader in gas turbine technologies whose research has transformed how turbine cooling and aero-thermal performance are studied and improved. Thole’s work bridges fundamental heat transfer and fluid mechanics with industrial implementation, enabling innovative cooling designs that improve efficiency and durability in turbines that generate power and propel aircraft — advances that contribute to lowering carbon emissions. In 2011, she conceived and initiated the Steady Thermal Aero Research Turbine (START) Laboratory at Penn State, a one-of-a-kind, engine-relevant rotating turbine facility that has driven a paradigm shift in turbine experimentation and produced first-of-its-kind data, patents, and cooling designs integrated into operational turbines. Her research has also set widely used benchmarks for the field, including the “777 hole” standard cooling geometry, and she has pioneered the use of metal additive manufacturing and advanced diagnostics to accelerate development of next-generation low-carbon propulsion and power systems.
Thole is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Royal Aeronautical Society, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering. She received the ASME R. Tom Sawyer Award, the ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award, the AIAA Thermophysics Award, the AIAA Air Breathing Propulsion Award, and the ASME George Westinghouse Gold Medal, along with national recognition for engineering education, mentoring, and broadening participation including the ASME Edwin F. Church Medal for Engineering Education, the Society of Women Engineers Distinguished Engineering Educator Award, and the ABET Claire L. Felbinger Diversity Award.
Thole joined Penn State in 2006 and served as head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 2006 to 2021. She served as the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering at the University of Michigan from 2024 to 2026. She earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1992 and both her master’s (1984) and bachelor’s (1982) degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Adri van Duin, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Materials Computation Center, poses for a headshot. Credit: Penn State.
Van Duin, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Materials Computation Center, is a world leader in atomistic-scale simulations of reactive materials and chemical processes. He is the co-inventor and main developer of the ReaxFF reactive force-field method, which enables fully dynamical atomistic-scale simulations for complex materials, molecules and their interfaces, with industrial applications from energy and aerospace to electronics, catalysis, and advanced manufacturing.
Van Duin has published more than 600 refereed papers and his work has been cited more than 50,000 times, reflecting the broad adoption and lasting influence of ReaxFF in academia, national laboratories and industry. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and has received major Penn State honors including the Faculty Scholar Medal.
Van Duin joined Penn State in 2008. He earned a doctorate in chemistry from Delft University of Technology in 1996 and a doctorandus degree in chemistry from the University of Amsterdam in 1991.
The Evan Pugh University Professorships are awarded to faculty members who are nationally and internationally recognized leaders in their fields of research or creative activity; demonstrate significant leadership in raising the standards of the University with respect to teaching, research or creativity, and service; display excellent teaching skills with undergraduate and graduate students who go on to achieve distinction in their fields; and receive support from colleagues who also are leaders in their disciplines.
The Office of the Faculty Affairs oversees the program, as delegated by the Office of the President. An advisory committee of seven Penn State faculty members, including three Evan Pugh professors, reviews nominations for the honor and makes recommendations to the University president.
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