Dr. Klaus Willeke, University of Cincinnati

During his education phase, Klaus Willeke had studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Hampshire (B.S. 1963), Fluid Dynamics at the von Kármán Institute in Belgium (Diploma 1966), and Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University in California (M.S. 1965, Ph.D. 1969). From 1969 to 1970 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Max‑Planck Institut für Plasmaphysik in Garching, Germany. In 1970 he became a faculty member and joined the Particle Technology Group in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. In 1976 he joined the Department of Environmental Health at the University of Cincinnati where he created and developed the Aerosol Research and Exposure Assessment Laboratory. From 1986 to 1988 he directed the Industrial and Environmental Hygiene Graduate Education Programs at the University of Cincinnati. In January 2003, he became Professor Emeritus of Environmental Health and Industrial Engineering, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

His research interests are fundamental and applied research on the sampling and analysis of airborne particles and microorganisms, and the characterization of their physical and biological components; the development of new aerosol measurement devices; the development of new respiratory protection techniques; deposition of inhaled aerosols in the human respiratory system; therapeutic drug delivery by aerosol means; and dynamic measurement of industrial and environmental aerosols. He has authored or co-authored over 185 peer-reviewed publications, and has published one book on aerosol generation (1980) and one on aerosol measurement (1993). The expanded second edition of the aerosol measurement book was published in 2001. In 2007, it was translated into Chinese and published in China. Several of the concepts generated by him have been incorporated into commercially available instruments. About 30 scholars have spent a year or more working with him and his group colleagues. He has graduated over 25 Ph.D.s and about the same number of M.S. students. His co-authors represent 26 different nationalities. He has given lectures in three other languages: French, German, and Lithuanian. He has been a consultant to several companies in the U.S. and abroad. Institutions and professional organizations in North America, Europe and Asia have frequently sponsored him to present his work. His research and education efforts have been recognized by four annual “Outstanding Aerosol Paper” awards, two annual “John White Respiratory Protection” awards, the Richard Akeson Excellence in Teaching Award at the University of Cincinnati, and the “International Aerosol Fellow Award” which is given every two years by the International Aerosol Research Assembly, the umbrella organization of all national and discipline-specific aerosol societies.