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Ray Diez, former Western Illinois University Engineering Technology chair
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Former WIU Engineering Technology Chair Receives Prestigious Award

November 20, 2019

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MACOMB, IL - - Ray Diez, former Western Illinois University Engineering Technology chair, has been named the recipient of the Charles W. Keith Award from the ATMAE (Association for Technology Management and Applied Engineering).

The Charles W. Keith award is not an annual award; it is given only when an individual is judged by the current chair of the board of the ATMAE and two past chairs to have displayed exemplary accomplishments toward the significant development of ATMAE over an appreciable period of time.

According to the ATMAE, the Charles W. Keith award is in honor of the man whose vision and action resulted in the foundation of the National Association of Industrial Technology, ATMAE's predecessor association. The person given the award is one whose contributions to the organization have been consistently outstanding.

Diez, who accepted his award at the 2019 ATMAE (Association for Technology Management and Applied Engineering) Conference, retired from WIU in June 2018, after nine years as chair of the Engineering Technology department.

In 2016, Diez was appointed the first Senior Fellow for History of the ATMAE, which entailed developing a history to be used in the celebration of the 50th anniversary at the 2017 conference.

He has served in many positions for NAIT and ATMAE, including a role in which he reviewed bylaws; as the ATMAE Board of Accreditation chair; as president of the NAIT student division and as an NAIT regional director.

"Dr. Diez brought several decades of experience in ATMAE accreditation with him when he arrived on campus," said Jack Elfrink, WIU College of Business and Technology Interim Dean. "WIU was fortunate to leverage his background and successfully gain initial recognition for our Engineering Technology programs. Not only do our students benefit from graduating from an accredited program, but the faculty utilize the ATMAE requirements to assist them in maintaining quality throughout the curriculum. Congratulations to Ray on his award. We appreciate the excellent leadership he provided his department."

For more information on Western's Engineering Technology department, visit wiu.edu/engrtech.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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