Yeram Sarkis Touloukian (December 28, 1920 – June 12, 1981) was an American professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Thermophysical Properties Research Center (now known as CINDAS) at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

[3] Touloukian married Hersil Istanbullu on August 8, 1948, in London, England after a long distance courtship.

[2] Touloukian taught numerous graduate courses at Purdue University in thermodynamics and in heat and mass transfer.

[2] Besides his teaching and research career, Touloukian served as a consultant to a number of government agencies and industrial organizations.

These included:[2] Touloukian singlehandedly conceived and established the Thermophysical Properties Research Center (TPRC) at Purdue University in 1957.

Under Touloukian's technical and administrative leadership, TPRC quickly attained national and international recognition as a unique institution; the first of its kind.

After reaching a publishing agreement with McGraw-Hill and increasing support from the Space Agency, Air Force, Army, Wright Field and National Bureau of Standards, the project had grown to the point where it was too big for its operation in Mechanical Engineering.

An individual who is internationally recognized for major contributions in the thermophysical properties field is eligible to receive this award.

Funding to support the award was provided by Purdue University to honor the contributions of Yeram Touloukian.