Roll Call Tribute

(Published in) The (Bryan-College Station) Eagle (on) August 15, 2016

Prestigious Texas A&M professor dies of apparent heart attack

Posted: Sunday, August 14, 2016 9:35 pm
Eagle Staff Report

A professor and researcher at Texas A&M – considered an internationally-renowned authority in mathematical modeling – died today while vacationing with his family in Greece.

Christodoulos A. "Chris" Floudas, director of A&M’s Energy Institute, came to Aggieland last year after teaching at Princeton University for 29 years. At A&M, he was appointed to serve as the Erle Nye Chair Professor for Engineering Excellence.

The 56-year-old died from an apparent heart attack, according to a statement released Sunday evening by Texas A&M.

Seven months ago, he was elected as a fellow to the National Academy of Inventors. The expert in chemical engineering had more than 40 patent for inventions developed since 1997.

He was heavily sought-after to join A&M’s faculty through the Chancellor's Research Initiative program, which included him serving as in 2013 as a faculty fellow in Texas A&M’s Institute for Advanced Study. The program, then its second year, recruits highly-regarded researchers from around the globe based on recommendations from young faculty members at A&M.

Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp said he was saddened to learn of Floudas' sudden passing.

"He was a true scholar and gentleman and he'll be missed by the Aggie family," Sharp said. "Our thoughts are with his family here and in Greece."

A funeral is scheduled for Wednesday in Greece. A memorial service on the A&M campus will be scheduled at a later date.

In an early 2015 interview with The Eagle during a welcome reception for seven new fellows being inducted into the program, Floudas commented about leaving a campus in New Jersey that he loved: “To move after 29 comfortable years at Princeton to where I’ve never lived before speaks volumes about the role that the Institute for Advanced Studies can play so as to attract and advance the intellectual human capital.”

His research focused on addressing fundamental problems on multi-scale systems engineering for energy, environment and health. At A&M, he oversaw the Multi-scale Systems Engineering Laboratory, which is part of A&M’s Energy Institute and the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.

Floudas, who co-edited 10 books, received scores of awards and honors for teaching and research, including the National Science Foundation’s Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1988; the Engineering Council Teaching Award from Princeton in 1995; a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher and the Constantin Caratheodory Price in 2015.

Working with students was an important part of his work, an attribute noted when Floudas won the Graduate Mentoring Award from Princeton in 2007. He supervised roughly 40 doctoral students in the past 26 years and more than 20 post-doctoral associates.

He was active at Princeton not just within his specialty but through efforts to help wherever he could, including search committees for administrators, undergraduate committees and research committees. He served as director of graduate studies for four years while at Princeton and was a freshmen advisor.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recognized Floudas during his State of the State address last year, saying he was an example of top-tier global talent recruited to Texas through higher education initiatives.

A&M President Michael K. Young described Floudas as an amazing scholar who "demonstrated leadership in discovery, in innovative teaching and practice, and in serving his discipline and all of society."

A true visionary in his field is how he was described by Kathy Banks, vice chancellor and dean of engineering for Texas A&M.

"This is an immense loss for Texas A&M and the entire engineering community," she said.

Floudas received his undergraduate degree from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and his doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University.