Peter Adams appointed as Thomas Lord Professor of Engineering

Peter Adams, Head and Professor of Engineering and Public Policy and Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been appointed as a Thomas Lord Professor of Engineering.

Since joining the Carnegie Mellon faculty in 2001, jointly-appointed in both the EPP department and the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Peter has been dedicated to conducting strong, robust research that drives policy and induces positive change. Peter has served as department head of Engineering and Public Policy since June 2020.

Additionally, Peter currently serves as the Director of CMU’s Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies, a collaborative research center that is highly-productive and influential in the international air quality research community. He has also played a significant leadership role in the Center for Air, Climate, and Energy Solutions, a $10M EPA-funded research center housed at CMU, which has fostered deep collaborations between air quality researchers in the Center and energy systems researchers.

In 1996, Thomas Lord endowed seven professorships at Carnegie Mellon University. Of the seven professorships established at CMU by Lord, three of them reside permanently in the College of Engineering. Each of these professorships was endowed to honor an educator whose work has had a profound impact on the university, his or her academic field and society. Peter’s research expertise lies in the development of air quality models, atmospheric particulate matter, climate change, and the application of chemical transport modeling to policy questions. He has served on the EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Particulate Matter Review Panel and other advisory committees at the state and local levels and has received awards from the Air and Waste Management Association as well as the American Association for Aerosol Research. Peter’s research tackles some of the most pressing environmental issues facing the world today, making him an exceptional choice for this Chair.