Ilene Busch-Vishniac

Born: 1955

Country of Birth: USA

Nationality: USA

Ethnicity: White

University of Rochester BS Physics & BA Mathematics 1976; MIT MS 1978 & PhD 1981 both in Mechanical Engineering

""Almost anyone who knows me knows that I tend to speak my mind. Further, I tend to evaluate situations quickly and draw conclusions while many are still trying to grasp context and potential implications. I have had to learn to not be the first to speak all the time and to let others catch up to me and to change my opinion." (acousticstoday.org); "Life, for me, has always been busy. I had young children when I took on the deanship at Johns Hopkins University, and I continued to do research as a university administrator. I had no option but to learn to be very efficient. I did this by adopting two principles: I appointed great people and told them to take judicious risks as needed; and I learned to prioritize important work over the never-ending administrivia. But more important than all of these work habits was that I have had a life partner who has taken up the slack when I was never home and supported me in all my decisions, even when it took us far from family." (acousticstoday.org); "I think it's great to start new programs that help you find and retain and mentor and maintain the success of people. Those programs are important, but I think it's the people that form the legacy-not the program itself." (wepan.org); "when you become a department head, suddenly all of the people who were your friends don't want to talk to you. When you become a dean, no one wants to talk to you in the college. When you become a provost, it's hard to find friends who don't use social engagements to ask you for more money. " She says "there are days when I just talk to my husband and the dog!" (wepan.org); "

— Ilene Busch-Vishniac

Field of Study: Mechanical Engineer; University Administrator; Inventor

Institution/Corporation: Bell Labs; Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University; McMaster University; University of Saskatchewan; University of Texas at Austin; Sonavi Labs

Degrees & Memberships: Member: Acoustical Society of America (ASA, member 1977, Fellow 1987); American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Awards: 2001 ASA Silver Medal in Engineering Acoustics; 1987 R. Bruce Lindsay Award, ASA; 1997 Achievement Award, Society of Women Engineers; 1995 Presidential Young Investigator, NSF; 1995 Curtis McGraw Research Award, American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE); 1999 Science Writing Award, ASA

Achievements: as a graduate student developed computer tools for studying problem noise in the suburbs and investigated how to produce quieter computer printers; while working at Bell Labs developed devices for microphones and earphones and improved conference calling systems to eliminate echoes that some speakers produce; at University of Texas worked on on ways to reduce the level of noise that comes from transportation & discovered it was the shape of the highway barriers, not their composition, that effected noise levels;