On 16 Jun 2015, Dr. Adedeji Badiru (center), Dean of AFIT's Graduate School of Engineering and Management presented Distinguished Professor medals to Dr. Richard Deckro (left), Professor of Operations Research in the Department of Operational Sciences and Dr. Mark Goltz (right), Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Environmental Management in the Department of Systems Engineering and Management.

The title of Distinguished Professor is an honorary title conferred upon selected faculty members who have achieved recognition well above the criteria for full professor over a period of years.  The basic performance criteria and expectations for Distinguished Professors are outstanding and sustained accomplishments as demonstrated by nationally or internationally recognized research accomplishments as documented by high quality refereed journal publications a sustained and well supported research program a sustained level of master's and doctoral degree productivity recognition via citation index references to their scholarly activities exceptional teaching performance high quality and quantity of advisements and mentorship of graduate students effective mentorship of and development of teaching, research, and grantsmanship skills for younger faculty and finally, recognition through national or international honors and awards such as those bestowed at the highest levels of major professional societies.

Drs. Deckro and Goltz make the fourth and fifth AFIT faculty members to receive the title of Distinguished Professor, joining Dr. Shankar Mall, Professor of Aerospace Engineering in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Dr. Marlin Thomas, Professor Emeritus of Operations Research in the Department of Operational Sciences, and Dr. Anthony Palazotto, Professor of Aerospace Engineering in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Dr. Richard Deckro is a Professor of Operations Research within the Department of Operations Research, Graduate School of Engineering and Management, Air Force Institute of Technology.  During the years of 1994-2015, Dr. Deckro demonstrated superior ability as a nationally-renowned researcher, extraordinary publisher, and faculty leader.  Dr. Deckro developed and taught graduate courses in information operations, deterministic mathematical programming and modeling, project management, network analysis, and decision analysis.

As the Director of the Future Operations Investigation Laboratory, Dr. Deckro supervised master's and doctoral research and consulted for federal agencies and private industry.  A recognized expert in the military operations research community, Dr. Deckro was elected a Fellow by the Military Operations Research Society (MORS) in 2009 the same year he also received the Air Force Analyst Lifetime Achievement Award.  Dr. Deckro is a recipient of the MORS Clayton Thomas Award for distinguished service to the profession of military operations research and the 2008 Koopman Prize from the Military Applications Society of INFORMS. In addition, Dr. Deckro serves as the Editor of Military Operations Research.

Dr. Mark N. Goltz is Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Environmental Management within the Department of Systems Engineering and Management, Air Force Institute of Technology.  During the years of 1996-2015, Dr. Goltz demonstrated superior ability as a nationally-renowned researcher and faculty leader.  His research spanned a broad range of subjects within environmental engineering, including groundwater remediation technologies, environmental technology transfer, wastewater treatment, and modeling fate-and-transport of contaminants in the subsurface.  Dr. Goltz's groundwater contamination and clean-up research was published in numerous journals, and led to his recognition as a Research Fellow by the New Zealand Crown Institute for Environmental Science.

As a faculty leader, Dr. Goltz served as department head for over a year and led the department's successful effort to achieve ABET accreditation for both the Engineering Management and Environmental Engineering and Science programs.  An exceptional advisor of student research, two of Dr. Goltz's students won the AFIT Commandant's Award.  In recognition of his achievements in education, Dr. Goltz was awarded the Bliss Medal from the Society of American Military Engineers and is a Fellow of the society.