Chemical Engineering Department Head Albert Sacco Jr., is leaving WPI to assume the George A. Snell Chair in Engineering at Northeastern University, his alma mater. His resignation, submitted Feb. 18, is effective June 1. An internationally recognized expert on zeolite crystal growth, Sacco was a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Columbia during its 16-day U.S. Microgravity Laboratory-2 mission in 1995.
Sacco received his bachelor's degree in Northeastern in 1973. He was the keynote speaker at the university's commencement last June, when he was awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering for his work with NASA and for his accomplishments in research and education and was named Outstanding Alumnus in Science and Technology. He joined the WPI faculty in 1977 after receiving his Ph.D. from MIT and has been department head since 1989. In 1996 he received the Board of Trustees' Award for Outstanding Creative Scholarship.
"WPI wishes Professor Sacco every success in his future at Northeastern," says WPI Provost John F. Carney III. "He has been a valuable member of the WPI community for the past 20 years as a teacher, researcher, department head and member of numerous boards working for the advancement of our university. His leadership and council will be missed."