James W. Barany

2011 Co-op Hall of Fame Inductee (Posthumous)

Co-op Coordinator

Professor Barany was appointed as an instructor in Industrial Engineering in 1958, an assistant professor in 1961, as full professor in 1969, and as Associate Head of the Undergraduate Program in 1970. He held the position of Associate Head almost continuously until his recent retirement. During that time, Prof. Barany has been the sole advisor to the co-Op program for the School of Industrial Engineering.

In addition to his work with students, he created and led annual Industrial Engineering Annual Work Simplification seminars (1966 to 2000), and the AT&T Graduate Summer Program for manufacturing and systems engineers (1965 to 1999), which awarded some 257 master’s degrees. In 1998, the State of Indiana recognized Barany’s widespread contributions by giving him its highest honor, the Sagamore of the Wabash award.

As the numerous IE co-op students can attest, Professor Barany’s dedication and passion has been unrivaled. Professor Barany spends countless hours being a mentor to students and administering to them to ensure their success. Even after going on half-time retirement several years ago, and even after full retirement last fall, Professor Barany continues to devote more than full-time efforts to mentoring students, including those in the co-op program.

Degrees

B.S. '53, Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame
M.S. '58, Industrial Engineering, Purdue University
Ph.D. '61, Industrial Engineering, Purdue University

Research

Human factors
Occupational ergonomics
Methods engineering and work measurement