Two Mechanical Engieering Professors receive "Distinguished Professor" title - The University bestows the Distinguished Professor title on select outstanding faculty in recognition of their outstanding teaching, research, and service at Penn State and in their profession. A professor who holds this prestigious title brings the highest distinction to the College and the University. The recipients are Professors Kostadin Ivanov and Mike Modest.

Professor Kostadin Ivanov, who holds an appointment as a nuclear engineering professor in our Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, has made significant impacts in his field of coupling reactor physics and thermal hydraulics for power reactors. His work has been published in over 170 peer-reviewed journals and proceedings. Professor Ivanov earned his Ph.D. degree in reactor physics from Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Prior to joining Penn State, he held research and academic positions at the Research Center Rossendorf Inc. in Germany, the Institute of Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, the Technical University of Sofia, and Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plants in Bulgaria. Professor Ivanov is the Director of the Reactor Dynamics and Fuel Management Group (RDFMG), which researches accurate and efficient analysis methods to predict safety and economic performance of current and future generations of nuclear systems. Professor Ivanov and his many graduate students have led the development of computational tools to model the details needed for predicting the performance of nuclear power plants.

Professor Mike Modest, who holds an appointment as a mechanical engineering professor in our Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, is an internationally renowned scholar known for his contributions to heat transfer. His research has resulted in over 200 publications including books, book chapters, invited papers, and refereed technical papers. Professor Modest is most widely known for his graduate textbook “Radiative Heat Transfer,” which has become a standard text and reference in heat transfer. He has advised numerous graduate students including an assistant professor who is now at Ohio State University. He has secured research support from various agencies, primarily the National Science Foundation from which he has had continuous support for the past 17 years. His international reputation has resulted in invited lecture tours to France and China, the two countries with perhaps the most active radiation research programs outside the U.S. For his achievements he was further honored by the Huazhong Institute of Technology in China with an appointment to honorary guest professor. He is an ASME Fellow and is active on editorial boards and other ASME Committees.

Professors Ivanov and Modest join with Professors Koopmann, Kuo, Ray, Settles, and CY Wang as current University Distinguished Professors in the Department.