Madison Rogers 'Matt' Earnest II honored with emeritus status
Madison Rogers “Matt” Earnest II, associate professor of practice of industrial and systems engineering in the College of Engineering and former assistant director in the Office of Continuing and Professional Education in Outreach and International Affairs at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of associate professor of practice emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The emeritus title may be conferred on retired faculty members who are specially recommended to the board by Virginia Tech President Tim Sands in recognition of exemplary service to the university. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board receive a copy of the resolution and a certificate of appreciation.
A member of the Virginia Tech community for more than 11 years, Earnest led the outreach activities associated with the Industrial and Systems Engineering Senior Design course and program, increasing the number of external business and industry contacts to more than 300 organizations and nearly 1,000 individuals.
In addition, Earnest served the industrial engineering profession for over 25 years in multiple manufacturing and leadership roles at Burlington Industries, Interface Inc., and BridgeValley Community and Technical College.
Throughout his career, Earnest served as principal or co-principal investigator on numerous commercially funded technical assistance projects and grant-funded research projects.
Earnest led efforts in creating the Industrial and Systems Engineering Learning Factory and directed operations of this carbon neutral education space focused on advanced manufacturing. In the classroom, he taught the Introduction to Industrial and Systems Engineering course.
Earnest received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech in industrial engineering and operations research and a Master of Education from Boston University.
Written by Anja Hemesath, a student writer for Virginia Tech Marketing and Communications