Janis Terpenny has officially assumed office as the 145th president of the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). A long-standing ASME Fellow and volunteer of more than two decades, she brings extensive experience from both academia and industry to the role.
Janis Terpenny currently serves as a programme director at the US National Science Foundation (NSF), with a primary focus on smart and intelligent manufacturing systems. She is also on secondment from George Mason University, where she holds professorships in systems engineering, operations research and mechanical engineering.
Her career spans numerous senior leadership and academic posts. These include programme director for the NSF’s Division of Undergraduate Education, dean of engineering at the University of Tennessee, and department head roles at both Penn State University and Iowa State University. She has also held faculty positions at Virginia Tech and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Earlier in her career, Ms Terpenny accumulated nine years of industry experience with General Electric, including participation in a corporate management programme.
Ms Terpenny has played a key part in several major manufacturing initiatives. She acted as the first technical lead for the Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise area within the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII), helping shape its early strategy and investment planning. She also co-founded and directed the NSF-backed Centre for e-Design, which brought together seven universities and more than 30 industry partners.
Within ASME, she has contributed extensively across technical and leadership activities. She previously chaired the Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Group, served on the Fellows Review Committee and established the Broadening Participation Committee for the Design Engineering Division, which she led for a decade. In addition, she has been closely involved with ASME publications and conferences, including serving as an associate editor for the Journal of Mechanical Design.
Alongside her ASME appointment, she is a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education and the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, and a member of several professional bodies.
ASME also confirmed the election of four new members to its Board of Governors. Each begins a three-year term running until June 2029, further strengthening the organisation’s leadership as it continues to support the global engineering community.