After almost thirty-two years of service as a professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Clemson University, Dr. Joel Greenstein is about to leave behind the chapter of his life entitled “Clemson IE.” He will be retiring as soon as the spring semester concludes this May. When asked what the next chapter of his life will consist of, Greenstein says he plans to “stop and smell the azaleas.”
Greenstein is the most senior member of the industrial engineering department. He was hired by the department in 1985, shortly after the Department of Industrial Engineering was chartered in 1984. Before coming to Clemson, Greenstein honed his engineering and teaching skills at University of Illinois at Chicago (BS, M.E.), Stanford University (MS, M.E.), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (PhD, M.E), and at Virginia Tech (Assistant Professor, I.E.). His research area focuses on human factors and ergonomics, especially in user-centered design and human-computer interaction.
One thing for sure is that several generations of Clemson students have learned and benefitted from Greenstein’s knowledge and teaching talent. He is the all-time leader when it comes to winning the industrial engineering student body votes for “Professor of the Year”. Over his tenure, he has received the award eight times.
The highest compliment one can receive as a professional is when your peers recognize your service and accomplishments. Greenstein received this highest honor in 2014, when he was named a fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Anyone within the human factors and ergonomics community will quickly acknowledge the quality of Greenstein’s collection of publications and work in human-computer interaction and user experience design, as well as confirm that he deserves his reputation for being one of the nicest and most genuine people that you will ever meet. Anand Gramopadhye, dean of the College of Engineering, Computing, and Applied Sciences, said Greenstein was instrumental in creating one of the country’s most successful human factors and ergonomics programs. Industrial engineers, former students, and human factors professionals will miss Dr. Joel Greenstein’s devotion and expertise as he moves on to the next phase of his life and career. We all look forward to seeing how he writes his next chapter and wish him the best in doing so.
