As the most recent recipient of the Blackmon-Moody Outstanding Professor Award, Dr. Doru M. Stefanescu exemplifies academic leadership and scientific accomplishment. His colleagues say that Dr. Stefanescu does not just work at the cutting edge, he defines the cutting edge.
His most recent work is of the extraterrestrial variety and is being conducted aboard the space shuttle Columbia where an experiment to determine how metals and ceramics melt together into new composites will be conducted by tow astronauts in zero gravity. This isn't the first NASA project for Dr. Stefanescu. In June of 1996 he conducted a similar experiment, melting aluminum and zirconium in a small furnace on board the shuttle. In both shuttle experiments, the goal is to develop lighter materials as strong or stronger than existing metals.
Dr. Stefanescu's pioneering work in the high technology field of solidification science is only a part of the reason he is a valued member of the University of Alabama faculty. At the time he joined the Metallurgical Engineering Program at the University in 1980, there was no Ph.D. program and the number of master's graduates averaged 0.5 per year. His belief that a good department cannot flourish in the absence of a strong graduate program led to the current Ph.D. program. Today the department enrolls 40 students each year.
Dr. Stefanescu's philosophy that a university professor must both create and transfer knowledge is reflected in his contributions to the University as well as to the national and international scientific and engineering communities.
Dr. John P. Formby received The University of Alabama's most recent Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award based on his demonstrated superior scholarly achievements and a profound dedication to the art of teaching.
His contributions have extended far beyond the boundaries of the academic community. From 1991 to 1993 he received and award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a study of the effects of food stamps on poverty and the distribution of income. He is currently working on a major research grant proposal pending before the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services dealing with the effects of low wage work on poverty and welfare receipt. Dr.Formby's research for the Administrative Office of Courts for the state of Alabama is being used to devise improved guidelines for child support for children from poor and low income families. A widely recognized authority on the national and international economic scenes, Dr.Formby's research is published in the top economics journals in this country and in Europe. One of his recent papers published in the American Economic Review (The premier economics journal in the world) shows that, in terms of real income, the South is no longer below other sections of the country, a development of striking significance.
As a teacher, Dr. Formby is highly regarded by students, alumni, and faculty colleagues alike. They all attest to his skill as a mentor and effectiveness as a teacher using such words as "thoughtful," "kind," and "dedicated." In the early 1990s Dr.Formby volunteered to teach large sections of introductory economics because he thought it was not being done as well as it should be. As a result of that experience, he devised a simple contract to induce students to attend class and has since written a paper that reveals that requiring and inducing attendance significantly improves performance.
Dr. Formby's teaching, research, and service contributions are the remarkable products of a true scholar.
