Strong leadership skills and compatible engineering research helped Julia Fulghum become the first woman to head UNM's Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Department.
Fulghum has replaced Norman Roderick, who has been interim chairman of the department since November 2000.
Fulghum, who also will be an engineering professor, said that her primary goal is to increase the visibility of the department, both nationally and internationally.
"The department is well positioned to greatly improve its national visibility, my role here is to find as many ways as possible to make that happen," Fulghum said.
She will oversee seven staff members and 17 faculty members. Currently 67 undergraduate and 75 graduate students are enrolled in the department.
School of Engineering dean Joe Cecchi said that Fulghum's great leadership skills will help her transition into the new role.
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"Professor Fulghum brings insightful and effective leadership qualities to our department, as well as a distinguished record as a faculty member," Cecchi said. "We are sure that these qualities, along with any ideas she may have, will help us continue to improve its relationship with area businesses such as Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories."
Another department priority, Fulghum said, is to increase diversity through both faculty hiring and student recruitment and retention.
He added that her research will fit well with the direction that the department is headed.
"Initially, I was very attracted to UNM's Engineering Department's material-oriented perspectives, which allows you to make connections outside the University, which fit well with my background and the department's needs." Fulghum said, "It is a mutually beneficial situation."
Fulghum's diversity initiatives will include a variety of efforts, both Web-based and actual meetings with prospective students, creating many opportunities for students to gain insight into certain aspects of UNM.
"It is important for us to realize the importance of not only recruitment but retention efforts of students, which will in the long run afford us the possibility to stay on the cutting edge in our field," Fulghum said.
Fulghum said another priority of the department is gaining new grants for increased research funding, which will help retain quality faculty and attract the best in industry fields.
"We are also in the process of refining our undergraduate curriculum in order to keep up with the times and stay current with developments in engineering education," Fulghum said.
Fulghum received her doctorate in analytical chemistry in 1987 from the University of North Carolina, her master's degree in Analytical Chemistry in 1983 from Cornell University and bachelor's in Chemistry with highest honors in 1981 from the University of North Carolina.
She was a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at Kent State University from August 1989 to August 2002 and an Honors College faculty member from January 2000 to August 2002 at Kent State. From August 1997 to July 2000 she was graduate coordinator for the Chemistry Department at Kent State.
Fulghum was a postdoctoral associate in the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina and a postdoctoral associate instructor for the Chemistry Department at the University of North Carolina.
