Robert E. Taylor honored with emeritus status
Robert E. Taylor, former associate professor of industrial and systems engineering and direct of the Center for High Performance Manufacturing in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of “associate professor emeritus” by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The title of emeritus may be conferred on retired professors, associate professors, and administrative officers who are specially recommended to the board of visitors by Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board of visitors receive an emeritus certificate from the university.
A member of the Virginia Tech community for a total of 19 years, beginning in 1967, Taylor devoted his teaching and research to enhance the understanding of simulation and quantitative analysis in the field of management decision making in complex industrial systems.
He left Virginia Tech in 1974 and held positions at the University of Missouri and Westmoreland Coal Company. He later served as executive vice president of engineering at CDI Engineering Group and vice president of operations at VTLS.
Taylor returned to Virginia Tech in 2001 as a research professor to assist in the development of the Center for High Performance Manufacturing. He initially served as assistant director and later became the center’s director. He increased external support for the center among the leading manufacturers in Virginia and forged strong new partnerships with the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development.
In addition, Taylor served the College of Engineering on the Committee of 100 and Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering as chair of its advisory board during his years away from Virginia Tech.
In the classroom, Taylor had an intense student focus and he co-authored textbooks with J.W. Schmidt, Marvin H. Agee, and Virginia Tech President Emeritus Paul E. Torgersen.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
