King honored with Ralph A. Andersen Endowed Chair

Professor William King has been named the Ralph A. Andersen Endowed Chair, an honor presented by the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering.

The appointment recognizes King’s significant achievements and contributions to the department. King has developed novel tools for materials characterization and metrology. His current research program focuses on scanning probe microscopy, manufacturing technology, and thermal energy transport.

King is also the principal investigator of the new Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII) in Chicago, and he will serve as its Chief Technology Officer.

He earned a PhD and MS in mechanical engineering from Stanford and a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Dayton. King joined the department in 2006.

Ralph A. Andersen was born in 1922 in Moline, Illinois. He earned his BS in mechanical engineering from Illinois in 1950, and served in the U.S. Air Force from 1940 to 1945. He worked in industry before starting his own engineering firm, Andersen Engineering, Inc., based in Montana, in 1983. As a student at Illinois, Andersen was involved in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).