Dr. Michael D. Amiridis
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
and Provost
Dr. Michael Amiridis is the Provost of the University of South
Carolina and a Professor of Chemical Engineering. As Provost,
Dr. Amiridis is responsible for leading the formulation and
implementation of academic policy, including coordinating the
University's teaching, research, and public service programs;
supervision of the allocation of resources in all academic and
academic support areas; formulation and implementation of policy
with respect to academic employment, promotion, tenure, and
faculty development; and representation of the University before
external bodies.
Dr. Amiridis received his Diploma in Chemical Engineering from
the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki in Greece (1985),
and his PhD – also in Chemical Engineering – from the University
of Wisconsin-Madison (1991), specializing in heterogeneous
catalysis. In 1991 he joined the corporate Research Division of
W.R. Grace and Co., in Columbia, Maryland, working in the area
of emission control technologies and subsequently moved to the
University of South Carolina as an Assistant Professor in 1994.
He was promoted through the academic ranks, became Department
Chair in 2002 and Dean of the College of Engineering and
Computing in 2006, before becoming the Provost in 2009. In the
interim he has also held visiting appointments (sabbaticals) at
the University of Poitiers (France) and ETH-Zurich
(Switzerland).
His research interests focus on the synthesis and catalytic
characterization of bimetallic nanoparticles with controlled
composition and architecture. His work has resulted in more than
85 peer-reviewed journal publications and has been funded by the
National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy and
the industrial sector (BASF, Toyota, Davison, W.L. Gore and
ExxonMobil). Amiridis has so far supervised the completion of 16
doctoral theses, while 6 additional PhD candidates are currently
in his research group. Graduates from his group have been hired
in world renowned corporate labs of catalyst manufacturers or
users, including BASF, Johnson Matthey, Grace-Davison, BP,
Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Sabic and Pfizer. His research
efforts have been recognized with an NSF CAREER Award (1996), a
Golden Key Award for Integration of Undergraduate Teaching and
Research (2000), and the USC College of Engineering Research
Achievement Award (2005).
Amiridis has taught several courses in kinetics, reactor
design and catalysis and has received various College and
University Awards for his teaching efforts, including the
Michael J. Mungo Undergraduate (1998) and Graduate (2004)
Teaching Awards and the Samuel Litman Distinguished Professor
Award (2002). He has also been involved in efforts to integrate
undergraduate education and research, and has served as the
Principal Investigator in five successful NSF-Research
Experience for Undergraduate (REU) sites, including the only
international Chemical Engineering REU site in the nation
(REU-Japan; 2003-2007). His recent service-related activities
include the editorship of Catalysis Communications (2001-05),
participation in the editorial board of Applied Catalysis B:
Environmental and Catalysis Communications, chairing of the
Chemical Engineering NSF Graduate Research Fellowships national
selection panel (2005-08), chairing of the Science Foundation of
Ireland Executive PI Panel in Information, Communication and
Emergent Technologies (2008-10), and participation in more than
15 NSF and DOE review panels. He also serves on national
advisory committees for the Departments of Chemical and
Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin and Tufts
University.
