Dr. William E. Moore • 2010 College of Science Distinguished Alumni

2010-03-30

The College of Science is awarding its 2010 Distinguished Alumni, including chemistry graduate Dr. William E. Moore. He received his Ph.D. in Physical Biochemistry in 1967 - the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. in the chemistry department at Purdue.

Dr. Moore has been a chemistry professor at Southern University for more than 30 years. At Purdue, he has served on committees and has received several honors.

In 2006, the Purdue Board of Trustees approved a professorship named after him by nominating Professor Joseph S. Francisco, the first William E. Moore Distinguished Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Science and Chemistry.

In 2004, Dr. Moore was named one of Purdue Chemistry's outstanding alumni. He was recently selected to serve on the Chemistry Department Advisory Committee through 2012.

Dr. Moore joined the chemistry faculty at Southern University and achieved the rank of full professor within five years. In 1973, he became the first president of the faculty senate at Southern University. During his professorial tenure at Southern, Dr. Moore established a strong undergraduate research program with fifteen of his students going on to obtain medical or doctoral degrees.

From 1982-1985, Dr. Moore held the positions of Academic Vice President, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and Director of Title III Programs at Prairie View A&M University. He assumed the position as Academic Vice President (Chief Academic Officer) at Texas Southern University in 1985.

In that position, he provided leadership in curriculum reform, campus computerization, and research productivity. A proponent of equal access to education, Dr. Moore brought about a transformation of the learning environment at Texas Southern through the establishment of The Frederick Douglass Institute of Liberal Studies.

In 1989, Dr. Moore returned to Southern University as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. During this period, he played an active role in increasing the number of learning opportunities available to students via telecommunications.

Dr. Moore’s impact has been felt nationally in numerous ways. In 1975 he took one-year leave to assist 34 historically black colleges in developing programs in interdisciplinary studies. In 1981 he was appointed chairman of the General Research Support Review Committee at The National Institutes of Health.

In 1986 he was selected as one of five editors of the first proceedings of the White House Conference on Science and Technology for Minorities. In 2001, he was one of 50 Americans invited to participate in a Project Kaleidoscope Change Agents Roundtable on the Use of Technology to improve instruction of Science, Mathematics, and Engineering.

Source: Purdue Chemistry, Southern University

Image credit: Southern University