Joel A. Nachlas honored with emeritus status
Joel A. Nachlas, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of “associate professor emeritus” by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The emeritus title may be conferred on retired professors, associate professors, and administrative officers who are specially recommended to the board by Virginia Tech President Timothy D. Sands. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board receive an emeritus certificate from the university.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1974, Nachlas’ scholarship focused on the development of new analytical strategies for application of probability theory and statistical methods to problems in reliability, maintenance planning and quality control.
Nachlas held leadership positions in several professional societies, served as the editor for the Proceedings of the Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium for the past 15 years, and published multiple scholarly articles and textbooks. He was a Fellow of the American Society for Quality and the Society of Reliability Engineers.
In the classroom, Nachlas taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses ranging across the industrial and systems engineering curriculum, He advised numerous students on master’s theses and doctoral dissertations and helped them develop successful careers in both academic and industrial settings.
In addition to his scholarship and traditional classroom teaching, Nachlas served Virginia Tech student athletes as head coach of the men’s lacrosse team for 34 years. He was named the National Coach of the Year by U.S. Lacrosse in 2001.
Nachlas received his bachelor’s degree from The Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.
