University Park, Pa. — Deborah J. Medeiros, associate professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering, retired at the end of the 2011-12 academic year.
Medeiros joined the department in the early 1980s and spent her entire career at Penn State. Her research areas and interests were in simulation, health care systems engineering, computer-aided design and manufacturing and facilities design. At the graduate level, she was the primary instructor for the simulation course and often taught the undergraduate facilities and materials handling course. Medeiros was a well-respected adviser for many undergraduate and graduate students.
In her tenure with the department she received numerous accolades, including the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society's Premier Teaching Award in 2002 and recently was awarded the 2012 Penn State Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Society's Faculty Appreciation Award.
Colleague Robert Voigt, professor of industrial engineering, said, "Deb's many contributions over the years have become part of the fabric of the IE department in so many ways. Her dedication to the students in the classroom and as a graduate student adviser is a model for all faculty." Voigt added that her colleagues will miss her wisdom, her service to the department and her great sense of humor.
Medeiros also served as a member of the Center for Integrated Healthcare Delivery Systems (CIHDS), and in this role she helped guide the center towards their mission of promoting a holistic approach to understanding and solving the problems of access and quality in health care.
As part of the center, Medeiros worked closely with Harriet Black Nembhard, CIHDS director and professor of industrial engineering. "Deb is welcoming, patient and caring," said Nembhard. "Her door was always open to students and often extra chairs would be pulled into her office to accommodate a big group. Her philosophy of helping students transcended into her discussions of departmental policy as well as initiatives we worked on together as we developed CIHDS. She often had insights with how our work may impact students that wouldn’t have occurred to me," added Nembhard.