Inside Clemson

Clemson names Centennial Professorship Award recipient

Richard Figliola, Ph.D., a faculty member in Clemson’s department of mechanical engineering was recognized with the university’s Centennial Professorship award. The Centennial Professorship is awarded to faculty displaying excellence in teaching, applied, basic research or scholarship and in service or extension efforts. The professorship is supported by an endowment from Clemson’s faculty and their friends as well as a matching grant from the Commission on Higher Education, which results in an award of $24,000.

The 34-year Clemson veteran is a master teacher at the undergraduate level having taught 24 course sections in the past five years and holds the distinction of having taught most of the courses in the mechanical engineering curriculum. His teaching evaluation is one of the highest in the department.

As an author, professor, researcher and mechanical engineering innovator, Figliola has excelled in his academic and research career. From encouraging the development of Clemson’s CU-ICAR to serving as a NATO Fellow at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics and prestigiously composing a Test Uncertainty Standard — the standard measurement to improve design outcomes, Figliola is a world-renowned engineer and scientist, whose service to the university and the scientific community is unparalleled.

His department chair notes,“Dr. Figliola is fair, open, and liked by all students, faculty and staff alike in the department. He is a master teacher, researcher, administrator and consummate Clemson faculty member. I cannot think of any other faculty member that I know of at Clemson that deserves this award more than Dr. Figliola.”