After completing his doctorate in Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, Ferd joined the Purdue faculty in 1961, where he taught courses in operations research and engineering economics. Ferd was head of the School of Industrial Engineering from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1981 to 1993.

 

In 1980 he served as organizing director of Purdue’s Computer Integrated Design, Manufacturing, and Automation Center, and from 1993 to 2000 he directed Purdue’s Technical Assistance Program. He led studies of the operations of research libraries for the National Science Foundation from 1962 to 1985 and was a distinguished lecturer for the American Library Association.  He took sabbaticals at the University of California at Berkeley in 1968 and in 1990 and was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Ljubljana,Yugoslavia in 1974. In 1999 he retired to Berkeley, and he became professor emeritus in 2000. His book, An Enduring Quest: The Story of Purdue Industrial Engineers, was published by Purdue University Press in 2009.

 

Ferd cared deeply about the underrepresentation of women in engineering, and in later years he championed the work of Lillian Gilbreth, an often overlooked 20th century industrial engineer and innovator, whom he met while at Purdue. He was a lifelong student of history, an avid genealogist and unstoppable home remodeler. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Natalie, his six children, Kristin, Meg, Jeanne, Ben, Tom and Ernie, five grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.