Recognizing his years of successful research, Iowa State’s College of Engineering faculty presented the 1996 David R. Boylan Award to Peter J. Reilly last Thursday.

Reilly, an Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in chemical engineering, received the award because of his research in enzymes and sugars, which has benefited industries, government agencies and the state of Iowa, said Ted Okiishi, associate dean for research and outreach in the College of Engineering.

Okiishi said Reilly also received the award because he has mentored many research students to advanced degrees.

“Sometimes you will see someone in research working alone a lot. But not this guy, he loves students,” Okiishi said.

“You will always see students following him around. He’s a really good mentor,” he said.

Okiishi said the award is given to a senior member of faculty in the College of Engineering who has demonstrated excellence in research activities over a period of years.

“I was honored, surprised and delighted that I received the award,” Reilly said.

As this year’s Boylan recipient, Reilly will present a speech to engineers at the University of Iowa in the Distinguished Engineering Faculty Lecture Series.

Okiishi said each year, an engineer from U of I travels to ISU to present a lecture and the Boylan recipient travels to Iowa City.

“We’re very proud that he’s going to represent us. We’re really enthused about his research productivity,” Okiishi said.

Reilly is also the coordinator of international study exchanges between ISU and the University of Glasgow in Scotland, the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.

“He does it all. He is a good mentor, a good teacher and a good ambassador for ISU,” Okiishi said.

Reilly has written more than 80 research publications in 20 different journals read through out the world.

He joined the ISU faculty in 1974, after teaching at DuPont University from 1964-1968 and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1968-1974.

He earned his A.B. degree from Princeton University in 1960 and his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1964.

Reilly is the eighth recipient of the Boylan Award which was established in 1988 to honor David R. Boylan, the engineering dean from 1970 to 1988.