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CORVALLIS, Ore. - With technological evolution taking place at breakneck speed and the global economy becoming ever more interconnected, today's engineers are increasingly challenged to deepen their critical thinking skills to solve new and emerging problems.

But how can universities best develop those skills among the engineers of tomorrow? That's a question that Milo Koretsky, an associate professor of chemical engineering at Oregon State University, hopes to answer in his role as the OSU L.L. Stewart Faculty Scholar.

OSU President Ed Ray recently selected Koretsky as the first Stewart Scholar - a designation that carries with it a $20,000 award to support the scholar's research. It is the largest annual award presented to an OSU faculty member.

"Milo Koretsky is widely recognized by his colleagues and his students for his innovation and effectiveness as an instructor," said Ray. "He is also an indefatigable scholar, with a leading textbook and dozens of journal articles to his credit. He holds enormous promise as our first Stewart Scholar."

Koretsky earned the Dow Chemical Excellence in Teaching Award while a Ph.D. student at Berkeley in 1987. After graduating from Berkeley in 1991, he joined the OSU College of Engineering faculty, where five times he has been named an Intel Faculty Fellow. His "Engineering and Chemical Thermodynamics," published in 2004, is considered a premiere text for undergraduate thermodynamics instruction nationwide.

His nomination for the Stewart Scholar program outlines Koretsky's plan to complete a holistic analysis of how engineering students develop advanced problem-solving skills and deeper cognitive processes. Koretsky hopes not only to identify potential ways to affect that development, but to propose ways that engineering curricula may be changed systemically in support of those goals. The results of his research would be shared not only with OSU faculty, but throughout higher education.

"I'm honored to have been chosen for this award and hope that my work as Stewart Faculty Scholar has lasting impact on engineering education at OSU and beyond," said Koretsky.

Established in 2005, the L.L. Stewart Faculty Scholars Program recognizes outstanding faculty at OSU and provides resources to stimulate creative advancements in teaching, research and extended education.

Loran L. "Stub" Stewart, a 1932 OSU graduate who died in January 2005, left a $500,000 estate gift to establish the scholar program through the Mr. and Mrs. L.L. Stewart Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation. Stewart, a long-time supporter of OSU, wanted to promote teaching excellence at OSU through an annual award given to faculty to keep current in their fields and to improve their educational offerings.