October 16, 2008

College remembers Meier, professor and former dean

Dr. Meier (Photo: submitted)

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Dr. Wilbur L. Meier Jr., an NC State industrial engineering professor who was dean of engineering from 1991 to 1993, died on Oct. 13. He was 69.

Meier was a national figure in engineering education when he arrived at NC State in 1991 to become the College's eighth dean of engineering. During a long and successful career in higher education and research, he was an administrator at the National Science Foundation, led a university system, served as president of the world's largest industrial engineering professional society, ran two engineering colleges and oversaw two industrial engineering departments.

“The College of Engineering is deeply saddened by the loss of Will Meier,” said Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering. “We will miss his energy, enthusiasm and unwavering dedication to engineering education. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.”

A visitation has been scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 19, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 8405 Old Well Lane in Raleigh. The memorial service will be held Monday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m. at Christ Baptist Church at 400 Newton Road in Raleigh.

Meier's engineering career began in the late 1950s at the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. After completing his Ph.D. work in 1967, he began teaching in the industrial engineering department at Texas A&M University and eventually rose to assistant department head.

He left Texas A&M in 1973 to serve as chairman of the industrial engineering department at Iowa State University. In 1974, he became head of the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University, where he designed and implemented a new undergraduate curriculum, boosted graduate enrollment and increased externally funded research from $281,000 to $1.2 million over five years.

In 1981, Meier was named dean of engineering at Pennsylvania State University, presiding over 13,000 students, 800 faculty and staff and $36 million in annual research expenditures. Over five years, he grew the college's permanent budget by 90 percent and boosted total annual gifts from less than $1 million to more than $5.5 million.

Meier became chancellor of the University of Houston system in 1987, serving as chief executive officer for four campuses, 46,000 students and 4,500 faculty and staff. He provided leadership for the development and construction of a $22.5 million science center that housed the research facilities of the Texas Center for Superconductivity.

In 1989, he took over as director of the Division of Engineering Infrastructure Development at the National Science Foundation. While there, he was responsible for $25 million in national programs designed to make significant improvements in engineering education.

Meier was named dean of engineering at NC State in 1991. In announcing his appointment, then-chancellor Larry K. Monteith said, “Having provided leadership in engineering education at all levels, Dr. Meier has a clear understanding of the challenges confronting colleges of engineering at major land-grant research universities.”

During his tenure as dean, Meier earned praise for his work on external affairs and created considerable outside interest in the College. He was one of a select group of faculty and administrators to accompany Monteith to China in 1993 to participate in a technology transfer symposium. Meier stepped down as dean later that year to return to teaching and research in what is now the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

As a faculty member, Meier was part of NC State's work in assisting North Carolina industry, helping companies such as ABB, Black & Decker, Nokia, Eaton, Square D and Data General make improvements to their production systems. His research focused on lean manufacturing systems and production, planning, manufacturing strategy and systems engineering.

In addition to his administrative and research work, Meier was a leading figure in the field of industrial engineering. In 1985-86, he was president of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), the world's largest industrial engineering professional society that now boasts 15,000 members and 280 chapters worldwide. He was also the editor of a 16-book series on industrial engineering and was elected as a fellow of the IIE as well as the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Meier was a recipient of the Bliss Medal from the Society of American Military Engineers.

-degraff-

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