1/29/2016 MechSE Communications
An investiture ceremony for Professor Naira Hovakimyan took place yesterday, January 28, making her the eighth W. Grafton and Lillian B.
Written by MechSE Communications
“This is a well-deserved honor that she has earned through her many accomplishments in research, education, and mentorship, and exemplary service and citizenship. Her extraordinary accomplishments bring excellence and distinction to both our department and our institution,” said Tungchao Julia Lu Professor Placid Ferreira, who spoke about Hovakimyan’s extensive accolades over her nearly 25-year career.
As Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Innovation (and former Wilkins Professor) Charles Tucker noted, “Investiture ceremonies serve as our most public opportunity to recognize the excellence of our faculty. At the same time they also act as very loud and clear reminders to our peers, who are also our competitors, that Illinois is a place where hard work is honored, scholarly achievement encouraged. As everyone certainly knows, Professor Hovakimyan exemplifies what we mean by hard work and achievement. Whether you’re talking about her scientific achievements, entrepreneurial leadership, or dedication to students, she has been recognized by campus and with national and international honors. So it is fitting that we come together today to celebrate her investiture with our highest academic award, an endowed professorship.”
The legacy of this professorship began at the University of Illinois, when a kind professor inspired one of his students. After earning a bachelor’s degree in railroad engineering in 1929, that student, Mr. Wilkins, went on to advance the precision casting of turbine blades. An imaginative engineer and astute businessman, he became president of Universal Casting Corporation in Chicago. He and his wife actively supported the University of Illinois for more than 30 years and an estate gift in 1996 established the endowment that funds this professorship.
“The Wilkins’ generous commitment to this department’s educational mission and research now continues in the work of Professor Naira Hovakimyan. I can think of no more worthy recipient of this distinction, as she continues to push our department into fascinating new research areas,” said Tony Jacobi, MechSE department head and the Richard W. Kritzer Distinguished Professor.
Hovakimyan’s research focuses on robotics, game theory, networks of autonomous systems, and theory of robust adaptive control and estimation, as well as control in the presence of limited information.
She has been an esteemed member of the university since 2008, when she joined the faculty as a professor in the Mechanical Science and Engineering department. After receiving her MS degree in theoretical mechanics and applied mathematics in 1988 from Yerevan State University in Armenia, she went on to earn her PhD in physics and mathematics from the Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
Prior to her work with MechSE, Hovakimyan was a faculty member in the Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech and research faculty member in the School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech. She is also a Schaller Faculty Scholar at Illinois.