Mary Leigh Wolfe, professor and former chair of the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been awarded Professor Emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
Emeritus may be conferred on retired professors, associate professors, and administrative officers specially recommended to the Board of Trustees by Virginia Tech President Tim Sands in recognition of exemplary service to the university. Appointees who are approved by the board receive a copy of the resolution and a certificate of appreciation.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1992, Wolfe has brought Virginia Tech international attention through his work on diffuse pollution, the food-energy-water nexus, and engineering education. She has authored or co-authored over 130 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, conference papers and reports.
While also co-editing, Wolfe co-led an international team of authors to publish “Introduction to Biosystems Engineering”, an open textbook representing the first partnership between Virginia Tech Publishing and the international Open Education Network Partnership Cooperative. She has held numerous leadership positions in professional organizations, including President of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and President of ABET (the accrediting body for college and university programs in the applied and natural sciences, computer science, engineering and engineering technology).
In the classroom, Wolfe has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses and directed both master’s and doctoral degrees. students.
Wolfe has received several professional honors and awards, including Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), Fellow of ABET, Fellow of the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and recipient of the ‘ASABIS. Massey-Ferguson Educational Gold Medal.
Wolfe received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural engineering from Virginia Tech and his Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
