|
|
History::Deans
Buildings | Deans | Firsts of the College | Tech Engineer Magazine
R. Michael Harnett
R. Michael Harnett was born on June 3, 1944, in Winnfield, Louisiana. Harnett attended Louisiana Tech and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1963 in mathematics with a minor in English and supporting studies in chemistry, physics, geology, and astronomy. Harnett then attended the University of Alabama in Huntsville and obtained his masters in 1972 in operations research with a minor in management. He also received his Ph.D. at the University of Alabama in 1974 with a major in industrial and systems engineering and minors in management and mathematics. While in Huntsville, Harnett worked as a student trainee for NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center, in the systems and nortronics divisions at the Northrop Space Laboratory, and as an Operations Research Analyst in the SAFEGUARD Systems Command for the U.S. Army. He then continued on with postgraduate studies in biology, genetics, physiology, organic chemistry, and biochemistry at Clemson University. Harnett joined the systems and engineering faculty of Clemson University in 1974 as the program director assistant and associate professor where he specialized in systems modeling and optimization. He joined the staff of Louisiana Tech as an Associate Dean in July 1983 until July 1988. From June 1987 to March 1988, Harnett served as an Interim Dean for the College of Engineering at Tech.
In his role as Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Science, Harnett assumed a combination of administrative responsibilities and academic activity. He developed a graduate engineering extension program in Shreveport. He developed and chaired a Conference on Robotics and Automated Systems held in Shreveport, which represented a major outreach to the largest industrial center in the region. He also developed the first remote job entry facility linking the College of Engineering to the university’s main frame computer enhancing computer utilization in the curricula. He improved industrial interactions of several engineering programs. These are only a few of Harnett’s accomplishments while Associate Dean.
As an interim dean, Harnett served as chief executive officer for the College of Engineering and Science. His primary responsibilities included program administration, academic planning, and program representation during a time of budget problems. Research spending totaled about $3 million per year, and Harnett administered a budget totaling over $6 million. Harnett also contributed many other ideas to the COES department at Tech other than the ones mentioned above.
Harnett is a member of many other engineering related organizations, as well. He is a senior member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, a full member of the Operations Research Society of America, a senior member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, a member of the American Society for Engineering Education, and the founding member of the Omega Rho Honor Society. Harnett currently has written and performed approximately 57 publications and presentations, of which 18 were done while associate and interim dean at Tech.
In 1988, Harnett took a position as a professor at Kansas State University in the Department of Industrial Engineering.
|
|
General Information 
