Tau Beta Pi Names Dr. Lyle D. Feisel as 2002 Distinguished Alumnus

Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society, has named the 2002 winner of its Distinguished Alumnus Award. Now in its sixth year, the award was established to recognize alumni who have demonstrated adherence to the ideals of Tau Beta Pi (integrity, breadth of interest, adaptability, and unselfish activity) and to fostering a spirit of liberal culture on local, national, and international scales.

Dr. Lyle D. Feisel, P.E., Iowa Alpha ’61, dean emeritus of the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science at the State University of New York at Binghamton, is the 2002 Tau Beta Pi Distinguished Alumnus and will be honored on October 5, 2002, at the 97th annual national Convention to be held in Detroit, Michigan. Tau Beta Pi President Douglas M. Green, P.E., will present a commemorative plaque and a $500 scholarship to be given in his name to The Watson School.

The former dean and electrical engineering professor holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Iowa State University and served as professor and department head at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology from 1964-83 before continuing his academic career at SUNY. From 1969-70, he served as national visiting professor at Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan, and held the Wachtmeister chair in engineering in 1982 at Virginia Military Institute. He has had industrial employment with Collins Radio, Honeywell, IBM, and Northrop, has consulted for private and public organizations, and has been highly active in accreditation and continuing education activities.

His influence on the engineering profession through his involvement in professional societies has helped to determine the direction of engineering education during the past three decades. He led the American Society for Engineering Education, first as chair of the electrical engineering division, later as vice president for finance, and in 1997-98, as president. During his term, he represented the U.S. abroad as the ASEE delegate to the Internationale Gesellschaft fur Ingenieurpadagogik in Grenoble, France, where he reported on the status of engineering education in the United States. Through his work in ABET, he has sought to recognize engineering curricula in universities worldwide that are substantially equivalent to EAC/ABET curricula in the U.S. He is a fellow of the IEEE, has served as president of its education society, and now serves as vice president of educational activities. His contributions to the Journal of Engineering Education as the reviewer for “The Academic Bookshelf” extended from January 1993 through January 1997.
On the state and university scene, Dr. Feisel was instrumental in chartering Tau Beta Pi’s New York Tau Chapter on the Binghamton campus in 1991. In 1992, under his guidance, the chapter received the Association’s highest honor—the R.C. Matthews Most Outstanding Chapter Award.

For his contributions to engineering education and the profession, Dr. Feisel has received: the IEEE centennial medal and millennium medal and the Region 1 award for innovative leadership, the Iowa State University professional achievement citation in engineering, and the New York State Society of Professional Engineers award for achievement and contributions in the field of education; and in 2000, he was named New York State Engineer of the Year by the NYSSPE. Dr. Feisel’s current public service includes service on the board of directors of the Susquenango Council Boy Scouts of America, UnIPEG/AM&T, and Endicott Technology Center/CTI.

Tau Beta Pi is proud to name Dr. Feisel as the 2002 Distinguished Alumnus.