Peter Rim reappointed Joseph H. Collie Endowed Chaired Professor
Peter Rim, professor of chemical engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, was reappointed the Joseph H. Collie Endowed Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering by Virginia Tech President Timothy D. Sands and Senior Vice President and Provost Mark G. McNamee.
The Joseph H. Collie Endowed Chaired Professorship is awarded to a distinguished visiting professor who has extensive industrial experience and expertise in production, marketing, and sales of chemical products to introduce chemical engineering students to advanced business and marketing concepts in chemicals distribution management. The professorship was created in 1995 with a gift by its namesake, who earned his bachelor's in chemical engineering from the university in 1950.
Rim has held the professorship since his arrival at Virginia Tech in 2010.
An expert in modem business strategies, product development processes, customer relations in a global society, and quality improvement and control, Rim's expertise in both chemical technology and business management are valuable to students who seek careers in the chemical industry.
He has more than 25 years’ experience in the development, commercialization, and marketing of performance polymer products. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, Rim was in charge of the new product strategy, development, and commercialization of Honeywell Performance Fiber's nearly $1 billion dollar fiber business. He also established cost-effective external research and development capabilities at universities, suppliers, and other programs to supplement the in-house capabilities of Honeywell Performance Fibers.
Rim is considered a technical patent expert in new technology areas and his name appears on 12 patents and on more than 20 technical publications.
In addition to his research and business background, Rim has been very popular among chemical engineering students. His Business and Marketing in Process Industries course is unique among all chemical engineering undergraduate programs in the United Sates. He received the highest student teaching evaluation the first time he taught the course.
He advises graduating seniors to improve their written and oral communications skills as they do their industrial design projects, and works closely with the Student Chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Rim received his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. He also received an MBA from the University of Richmond.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
