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Awards and Honors

COE alumnus, former faculty member named as National Academy of Engineering members

NC State gateway at sunset.

Two new members of the most recent class of National Academy of Engineering members have ties to the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University.

Sarah A. Rajala
Sarah A. Rajala

Sarah A. Rajala, professor and James L. and Katherine S. Melsa Dean (emeritus) in the College of Engineering at Iowa State University, is a former faculty member and associate dean in NC State’s College of Engineering. She was elected “for innovations in engineering education: outcomes assessment, greater participation and retention of women in engineering, and an enhanced global community.”

Rajala served as associate dean for research and graduate programs and associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering at NC State. She went on to Mississippi State University, where she was chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and then dean of engineering before serving as dean at Iowa State.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Michigan Technological University and master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Rice University.

John Williams Palmour
John Williams Palmour

John Williams Palmour is chief technology officer, Wolfspeed Inc., in Cary, N.C. Williams, who is a two-time NC State materials science and engineering graduate, was elected “for development of silicon carbide (SiC)–based advanced electronic devices.”

Palmour earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in materials science and engineering from NC State in 1982 and 1988, respectively. Following his academic career, he and fellow NC State graduates co-founded what became Cree, Inc., a Durham-based LED lighting company. Cree is now Wolfspeed and is focused on the design and manufacture of silicon carbide and GaN materials, power-switching devices and RF devices.

Palmour was named a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus by the College of Engineering in 2009 and elected to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering Hall of Fame in 2015.

Election to NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.

Election of new NAE members is the culmination of a yearlong process. The ballot is set in December and the final vote for membership occurs during January. New members of the NAE will be formally inducted in October at the NAE’s annual meeting.

The faculty of the College of Engineering includes 19 NAE members.