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�糵����, IL — November 11, 2008 —

Dr. Hamid Arastoopour, Henry R. Linden Professor at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Armour College of Engineering, has been appointed as the first director of the IIT Wanger Institute for Sustainability and Energy Research (WISER). WISER is an interdisciplinary research and education center incorporating contributions from engineering, architecture, the sciences, psychology, law, business, and design into the research and education structure, and leading the way in confronting the energy challenges facing the world today and in the future.

“Professor Arastoopour is uniquely qualified to lead WISER,” said IIT Provost Alan Cramb. “He has a long history of energy-based research and is a distinguished researcher with a national reputation in the field.”

As director of WISER, Arastoopour will work with IIT’s various colleges to promote a coordinated approach to education and research in areas related to both energy and the environment. He will also be responsible for initiating and developing research efforts that will take advantage of IIT’s strengths in sustainability, efficiency and alternative energy sources. Arastoopour is an IIT alumnus and most recently was the university’s dean of engineering.

“WISER is a work in progress and its ideas will expand,” said Arastoopour. “Currently, there are three areas of basic focus: energy production; energy conservation and efficiency; and power and power distribution. Through the formation of WISER, we will be able to significantly expand our research and educational activities in the areas of energy and sustainability.”

WISER was initiated and funded by a generous gift from Ralph Wanger, a member of the IIT Board of Trustees and former chief investment officer and president of Wanger Asset Management, which he founded in 1992. Wanger managed the Columbia Acorn Fund from 1970 until his retirement in 2003. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology holding both a bachelor’s and master’s degree.

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting university with more than 7,300 students in engineering, sciences, architecture, psychology, design, humanities, business and law. IIT's interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum is designed to advance knowledge through research and scholarship, to cultivate invention improving the human condition, and to prepare students from throughout the world for a life of professional achievement, service to society, and individual fulfillment. Visit www.iit.edu.