The American Society of Mechanical Engineers has awarded UH engineering professor Lewis Wheeler the Dedicated Service Award, which the ASME Board of Governors established in 1983, for his leadership to the Applied Mechanics Division.
The award serves to recognize “unusual dedicated voluntary service,” and recipients must have at least ten years of membership in Sections/Regions/Member Affairs; Codes and Standards; Technical Affairs; Public Affairs; Education; Committees reporting to the Board of Governors; the ASME Auxiliary, Inc.; and the ASME Foundation.
Wheeler has been active in ASME for a number of years, and the Dedicated Service Award recognizes his contribution to the Journal of Applied Mechanics as Technical Editor. The Journal of Applied Mechanics is the flagship research publication of the ASME and is also the first of the ASME transaction journals to be dedicated entirely to research.
“He’s been the editor of two journals, which is quite a prestigious accomplishment, and the journals were quite successful under his leadership,” said professor Charles Dalton, a colleague who attended the University of Houston with Wheeler as an undergraduate. “He is highly respected, and his peers have recognized his service and dedication to Applied Mechanics.”
Though the ASME fellow, who was awarded the 2002 Dean Claude L. Wilson Award for lifetime achievements of an outstanding Engineering Educator, is well respected in the engineering community, he has also immersed himself in the UH engineering community. Wheeler served as the mechanical engineering department’s interim chair for two years and was active in the Faculty Senate, where he served as president in 2000.
Wheeler graduated from UH with Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in mechanical engineering and received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology. He continues to serve as Editor-in-Chief of Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, a research journal published by Sage Science Press.