James J. Duderstadt
James Duderstadt is President Emeritus and University Professor of
Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan.
Duderstadt received his baccalaureate degree in electrical
engineering with highest honors from Yale University in 1964 and his
doctorate in engineering science and physics from the California
Institute of Technology in 1967. After a year as an Atomic Energy
Commission Postdoctoral Fellow at Caltech, he joined the faculty of
the University of Michigan in 1968 in the Department of Nuclear
Engineering. Duderstadt became Dean of the College of Engineering
in 1981 and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs in
1986. He was appointed as President of the University of Michigan in
1988, and served in this role until July, 1996. He currently holds a
university-wide faculty appointment as University Professor of Science
and Engineering and also directs the University's program in Science,
Technology, and Public Policy.
Duderstadt's teaching and research interests have spanned a wide
range of subjects in science, mathematics, and engineering, including
work in areas such as nuclear fission reactors, thermonuclear fusion,
high powered lasers, computer simulation, science policy, higher
education, and information technology.
He is author of numerous books dealing with the role of the university in
the information age, including A University for the 21st
Century (2000), The Future of the Public University in
America: Beyond the Crossroads (with Farris Womack 2003),
Intercollegiate Athletics and the American University: A
University President's Perspective (2003), Universities and
Business: Partnering for the Knowledge Society (with Luc Weber,
2003), Reinventing the Research University (with Luc Weber,
2004), and Higher Education in the Digital Age: Technology Issues
and Strategies for American Colleges and Universities (with Dan
Atkins and Doug Van Houweling, 2002).
During his career, Duderstadt has received numerous national
awards for his research, teaching, and service activities, including
the E. O. Lawrence Award for Excellence in Nuclear Research, the
Arthur Holly Compton Prize for outstanding teaching, the Reginald
Wilson Award for national leadership in achieving diversity, and the
National Medal of Technology for exemplary service to the nation. He
has been elected to numerous honorific societies including the
National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and
Science, Phi Beta Kappa, and Tau Beta Pi.
Duderstadt has served on and/or chaired numerous public and
private boards. These include the National Science Board; the
Executive Council of the National Academy of Engineering; the
Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy of the National
Academy of Sciences; the Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee of
the Department of Energy; the Big Ten Athletic Conference; the
University of Michigan Hospitals, Unisys, and CMS Energy.
He currently chairs several major national study commissions in areas
including federal science policy, higher education, information
technology, and engineering research.