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CORVALLIS, Ore.  - Harriet Nembhard, a professor of industrial engineering and an expert in operations research, process improvement, and quality control, has been named as the new head of the School of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Oregon State University.

Nembhard, who comes from Penn State University, will be the Eric R. Smith Professor of Engineering.

At Penn State Nembhard cofounded and directed the Center for Integrated Healthcare Delivery Systems. It became the university's driving force behind health care delivery research, with holistic solutions that encompass engineering, medicine, nursing, health policy, and information sciences and technology.

Nembhard also served this year as interim department head of Penn State's Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. She developed a strategy for academic development and faculty recruiting, initiated a master's degree program and enrolled its first class, and organized teams to respond to major research thrusts in the College of Engineering.

Nembhard has written 46 peer-reviewed journal articles and a new textbook, "Healthcare Systems Engineering." She has studied visualization methods for communicating healthcare data, statistical methods for the early detection of influenza outbreak, modeling patient adherence to treatment, monitoring mammograms for diagnostic error, and development of a patented manufacturing process for small-scale medical devices.

"We're delighted to welcome Professor Nembhard to the School of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering," said Scott Ashford, dean of OSU's College of Engineering. "Her ability to serve students, success as an academic leader and researcher, and ability to create and foster productive and collaborative partnerships between academia and industry will be a great asset to our growing engineering community."

Nembhard has served as a technical consultant for several major companies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Pharmacology Committee, and Penn State's Office of Planning and Institutional Assessment.

"The School of MIME has a long history of research and teaching excellence," said Nembhard. "I am looking forward to working with the faculty and staff to further enrich our programs and deliver engineering innovations that address the needs of our society."

Nembhard received her master's and doctoral degrees in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan.