Spring 2001 A departmental newsletter for UM-Rolla Ceramic Engineering Alumni and Friends INSIDE From Our New Chairman, People Move………………………………. 1 Richard Brow You Set Giving Record…………………… 2 Convention Banquet……………………… 2 I think that for most of you, a word New Chancellor…………………………… 2 of introduction is in order. As to my back- ABET and You…………………………….. 3 ground, I grew up in New York state and Leaving a Legacy…………………………. 3 received my B.S. in Ceramic Engineering Equipment Donations…………………….. 3 from Alfred University in 1980 and a Ph.D. Keramos Student News………………….. 3 in Ceramic Science from Penn State in AcerS Student News……………………… 4 1985. From 1985 through 1997 I was a Graduates in 2000………………………… 4 staff member at Sandia National Labs in Faculty News………………………………. 5 St. Louis Section News…………………… 7 Albuquerque where I was responsible for Phonathon/Alumni News…………………. 7 developing glasses for a variety of applications. While at Sandia, I collaborated with Delbert Day on a number of projects and it was through Del that I became familiar with the Ceramic Engineering program at UMR. I arrived here in Ceramics Faculty Now Head Both January 1998 and have since picked up the undergrad Materials Research Center and glass courses and have started a couple of graduate glass and optical materials courses. My current research Department includes studies of platinum impurities in laser glasses, the preparation and characterization of rare-earth containing On January 1, 2001, Prof. Richard Brow succeed- glasses, and the strength and fatigue-behavior of glass ed Prof. Wayne Huebner as Chair of Ceramic Engineering fibers. and Wayne became the director of the Materials Research As you probably know, UMR is one of the last uni- Center. This change increases the importance of the versities in the US to maintain ceramic engineering as a Ceramics Department in the materials research activities of separate and distinct materials discipline - and this attract- the campus. ed me to the department. I have been a ceramic engineer In becoming the new director of MRC, Wayne for better than twenty years. I like what we do and the peo- Huebner assumes a critical responsibility for the campus ple who do it. It is my goal to maintain the Ceramic by undertaking a leadership role in its pressing needs to Engineering discipline at UMR as a vital and attractive pro- increase externally supported research. Wayne felt fortu- gram for the foreseeable future. nate in being able to accept the position, knowing he had an In some respects, maintaining a distinct department able and popular replacement available for the department. will be easy to achieve. Our students are highly sought- (To remind those not familiar with the unique structure of after with starting B.S. offers averaging $50K in 2000. Our MRC, its members continue as active teachers and faculty are very productive, averaging about $230K in researchers in their departments; so, we will not lose the sponsored research last year, the highest per capita great influence Wayne has had on the Dept. He’ll just be research effort on campus. With Wayne now director of freed up from one kind of administrative duty to take on MRC, the opportunity for an even greater research pres- another.) Wayne succeeds Prof. Jim Stoffer, who elected ence on campus is enhanced. to accept an early retirement offered to the campus this past Nevertheless, we feel the pressures of the campus- Fall Semester. Until the early ‘90’s, Dr. Delbert Day was wide financial and enrollment problems. Your financial sup- MRC’s director. port of the department during our phonathon and through- out the year is making the difference. You can also help us by proselytizing for Ceramic Engineering. As successful Phonathon Dates members of the business, research, and academic commu- February 25- nities, you can inspire young people to consider Ceramic Engineering as a career option. Do you know a high school March 1, 2001 student with an inclination for math and science? Tell him or her about us! Do you have contacts with a local high school in the revenue pie. Private funding also helps distinguish or community college? We’ll provide you with materials that UMR from other universities, increasing the value of your describe our program including the Jackling Institute, to education. Any amount you give will be appreciated, and pass along. Does your business hire students in summer or most importantly, your participation will help make UMR a co-op positions? Give us a call! Would you like to meet our leader in alumni giving among public universities. students and tell them about your experiences as a ceram- ic engineer? Let me know and I’ll add you to our under- Convention Banquet ‘00 graduate seminar list. In my three years here, I now appreciate the crucial On May 1, 2000, during the American Ceramic role that our alumni can play in maintaining the vitality of this Society Convention, at Shannon’s restaurant in St. Louis, department. I look forward to working with even more of approximately 98 alumni, friends and spouses gathered for you as you help us meet the challenges that we face. Stop a reunion and to honor Dr. in the office when you are on campus or drop me a line. I’ll Charles Sorrel for his years of tell you about what’s new in the department and I’ll seek teaching service at UMR. After your advice about how we can improve things. I won’t be a fine dinner, Wayne Huebner, able to swap hunting stories like Wayne does, but I’ll talk gave a personal reflection on about my golf game with anyone. how influential Dr. Sorrel had been in making his initial selec- tion of ceramic engineering and Richard K. Brow what a role model he became 573-341-6812 for him after he enrolled. The [email protected] attendees were regaled by many funny stories as Wayne You set a giving record in 2000! told about faculty idiosyncrasies, lab mistakes and primitive facilities. While Dr. Sorrel’s remarks refined the historical Our most enthusiastic thanks to the Ceramic engi- accuracy of some of the earlier comments, he gave credit to neering alumni who helped us set a new record for pledges those who had come before and after him and spoke with and gifts during the 1999-2000 fiscal year. More than 170 pride about his family. The guests greeted his remarks with alumni pledged $24,760 to the department and sent in a standing ovation to finish an unforgettable evening. $25,105 in actual gifts. This trounced the previous record of Another banquet is planned for the next Annual Meeting, in $16,200 in actual gifts, established in 1998-99. Thank you Indianapolis on Monday night, April 23, 2001 starting at 6:30 again for your generosity! We believe we could have done pm. at Jillian’s. Details at (http://www.umr.edu/~ceramics/ even better if we could have reached more alums. Between special.html) or contact Denise Eddings at 573-341-4401. lost addresses, answering machines, call-screening and The deadline for registering for the dinner is April 16, modem connections, we could only make telephone contact 2001. with about 25% of you! If you were missed last year but wanted to participate, please get in touch with us. New Chancellor for UMR The average gift of $147 for the 1999-2000 fiscal year was also the highest ever in the history of Ceramic Dr. Gary Thomas, former provost and Engineering’s phonathon. And, of course, with any average, professor of electrical and computer engineering that meant one-half our alums gave more than that! This at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in giving level was 50% higher than the previous high in 1995- Newark, is the new chancellor of the University of 96. This year we will again be asking for each of our alum- Missouri-Rolla. Thomas, 62, succeeded ni to make a gift of $200, or more. Once again, after Chancellor John T. Park who retired on expenses, these funds, will go into building the Ceramic September 1, 2000. Thomas served as provost and senior Alumni Endowed Scholarship Fund which is now up to vice president of academic affairs from 1990 to 1998 at the $140,047. We had hoped it would be larger, but this proved New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. At NJIT, he to be a weak year for endowment investments. helped to form the school’s College of Science and Liberal “Your support makes such a difference in our Arts, the School of Management, and the Dorman Honors department,” says new Chair Richard Brow. “Scholarships College. are extremely important because they help us attract stu- Before the NJIT, he served in several academic and dents from a dwindling pool and keep them once in the administrative posts at the State University of New York at department.” Stony Brook. As Associate Dean of the graduate school for This year, we will begin calling alumni on Stony Brook, he was the chief spokesperson for research at Sunday, Feb. 25. When the phone rings, please take a the university. He was chairperson for the Energy moment to share some of your Rolla experiences with a Technology Laboratory at Stony Brook. He was also a current student, and say, “Yes,” when asked for a pledge. member of the Licensure Approval and Accreditation Board Taxpayer support accounts for only forty percent of the uni- for the New Jersey Department of Higher Education. versity’s revenue, making your contribution a vital ingredient A native of California, Thomas earned his bache- lor’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, in 1960.