FALL 2008 Vision newsletter COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND NATURAL SCIENCES College Embarks on Greatest Expansion Since 1928 is proud to unveil its newest expansion of Equipping an exciting future the College of Engineering and Natural for CS and EE Sciences: Two new buildings that will J. Newton Rayzor Hall will be located TU facilitate TU’s continued advancement in between 4th and 5th Place, just east of engineering and science. the Allen Chapman Activity Center. The two buildings include J. Newton Rayzor Hall, which The two-story gothic-inspired structure will house the computer science and electrical engineering is designed to blend seamlessly with the departments, and another facility to house the petroleum campus’ existing architectural aesthetic. and mechanical engineering programs. The buildings will The building will have tower entrances at add approximately 72,000 square feet of additional teaching, the southeast and northwest corners with research and faculty office space. A grand 1½-acre plaza will dramatic vestibules leading into the building. connect Keplinger Hall, Rayzor Hall and the petroleum and Rayzor Hall will include 24 integrated mechanical engineering facility. The additional buildings will classrooms and teaching/research mark the most significant contribution to the college’s growth laboratories, 33 faculty and graduate since its 1928 founding. student offices, two conference rooms, and five student commons areas with a student Carrying on a father’s legacy organizations office. The cost of the project The lead gift for J. Newton Rayzor Hall was generously is an estimated $20.4 million, including given by Evelyn Rayzor Nienhuis in memory of her father, $2 million reserved for a permanent J. Newton Rayzor Hall who was an accomplished attorney and businessman. His maintenance endowment. lifelong passion for higher education was demonstrated J. Newton Rayzor Hall will be a welcome through his generous gifts to several institutions. move for the computer science and electrical Evelyn Nienhuis, who was previously a nurse by engineering departments, which have critically outgrown engineering has more than doubled its undergraduate profession, grew up in Texas along with her sister, June. She is their current space in Keplinger Hall. enrollment — a testament to the quality of its nationally married to Lester Nienhuis, partner and founder of Surgical known programs. Mechanical engineering has received Associates, Inc., and they have two children. The Nienhuis’ Much needed space for PE and ME numerous national awards with its alternative fuel and fuel generosity to TU has been extraordinary, answering needs Similarly designed in appearance to Rayzor Hall, efficient vehicle designs, but continues to outgrow its limited in a variety of areas including tennis, women’s rowing, the the petroleum and mechanical engineering building will research space. annual fund and more. In 1999, the Nienhuis family also fully accommodate the growing academic needs of the established the Nienhuis/Rayzor Presidential Scholarship petroleum and mechanical engineering departments. A new era Endowment Fund to provide merit-based scholarships for A lead gift for this building has been received, and a When Keplinger Hall was dedicated in 1983, TU’s incoming TU freshmen. public announcement of this transformational external funding for research totaled approximately $2 facility’s new name will be made soon. million annually. Since that time, research funding has grown The building features 16 large integrated to over $17 million for the 2007–2008 fiscal year, the vast classrooms and teaching/research laboratories, majority of which is generated by the College of Engineering 34 faculty and graduate student offices, four and Natural Sciences. As a result of this impressive growth, student commons areas, a conference room and the college’s classroom space has been squeezed by its a student organizations office. This facility is growing research enterprise. While the college has welcomed expected to cost $22 million, which includes a this surge in outside investment, it has created additional $2 million endowment reserved for the building’s strain on departments’ limited physical space for research. permanent maintenance needs. The addition of the two new engineering buildings will Currently, the petroleum and mechanical accommodate projected growth in enrollments, recruit engineering departments are greatly restricted and retain outstanding faculty, and provide state-of-the-art by the limited amount of space available for academic and research facilities to strongly position the college for its next 80 years. ■ Petroleum & Mechanical Engineering Facility research and teaching. Since 2000, petroleum ENS Celebrates 80 Years of Excellence in Education Since its inception in 1928, the College of Engineering and and Natural Sciences. “We have thrived because of our Natural Sciences has enjoyed an international reputation for commitment to providing the best education to exceptional excellence. Students enrolled in the program have significant students. And we will continue to excel by building upon accomplishments in engineering and sciences, most notably in these core principles and concentrating on our successes.” YEARS the petroleum industry. As Tulsa became the “Oil Capital of the World” in the of Excellence From its impromptu beginnings in a janitor’s shed to the 1920s, the fit between the oil economy and the University in Education high-tech facilities of today (and tomorrow), the college has was natural. Retaining that core energy industry strength, the 1928–2008 remained committed to educating students through faculty college has expanded and evolved over the years to include mentoring, hands-on projects and original research initiatives. programs in many diverse engineering and science fields. “We have grown because we have never failed to explore,” Exciting new areas of expertise are emerging as the college TU COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING said Steven Bellovich, dean of the College of Engineering leads innovation into the 21st century. AND NATURAL SCIENCES (See Selected Highlights on page 2) CollegeNews Dean’s Letter inside Dear Friends, odds of producing more reliable enrollments. Programs in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemistry This academic and biochemistry, computer science, biology, physics, this issue year marks the 80th geosciences and chemical engineering were strengthened anniversary of the in order to ensure that our enrollments would not be so founding of what is today closely tied to fluctuations in the price of a barrel of oil. the College of Engineering The strategy has paid off, and today the old “Engine ENS Now Largest and Natural Sciences. In School” has the largest enrollment among the three under- 1928, Tulsa was the Oil graduate colleges at TU. College on Campus 3 Capital of the World, and our college was Enrollment numbers, however, tell only part of the originally created to meet story. The quality of the students also is impressive. The Math Professor’s 1935 the growing manpower average ACT scores for this year’s entering class is 28. A needs of the petroleum industry, which was still in its significant number are valedictorians or salutatorians of infancy. Twenty students were expected to enroll in that their graduating class, and 48 are National Merit Scholars. 5 Poem Continues to Inspire inaugural class, but more than 50 actually appeared. These students will undoubtedly do well in the classroom, That first class and its immediate successors did much to but while in residence they, like their predecessors, also build the petroleum industry in the Mid-Continent and will participate in research, internships, competition for eventually throughout the world. In fact, the contributions national scholarships and fellowships, and community Notable Alumni of our alumni and faculty did much to help make the volunteer projects. Our objective is to produce well- 20th century the Age of Petroleum. rounded graduates who can make significant contributions Through the Years 6 not only to their career field but also to society in general. Throughout the last 80 years our expertise in petroleum education and research has been a point of Yes, a lot has changed since the college opened in My Favorite Professor pride for the college and for the University. Our tradition 1928, and those of us who have the privilege of staffing of excellence in education continues to attract students the college today benefit greatly from the solid foundation 8 from around the world. Our strong ties to industry have built for us by the college’s past leaders, faculty, alumni brought significant research funding to the college and and friends. Please join me in recognizing the contribu- enabled us to add a real world aspect to the education tions and accomplishments of those who came before us Students Win Best that our students receive. The seemingly insatiable as we continue building a legacy for the generations that demand for petroleum and natural gas, which the world is will follow. Design Proposal 14 now experiencing, has once again focused the spotlight on our petroleum engineering program just as the growing Best regards, demand for petroleum did in 1928. Hulings Memorial Historically, being closely tied to the petroleum industry meant that the college’s enrollment was impacted Steven Bellovich Lecture to Feature by the periodic boom and bust cycles that characterized Dean of the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences 16 the industry. After the collapse of oil prices in 1983, a Evolutionary Biologist conscious effort was made to broaden the academic base of the college in an effort to diversify and improve the The Secret Life of Professors 17 Selected Highlights from the College of DEPARTMENTS Engineering and CESE News ............10-11 Natural Sciences Student News ..........12-15 1928 Faculty News ..........16-19 School of Petroleum Engineering opens with more than 50 students enrolled. R. C. Beckstrom becomes first dean. Ralph Kaufman appointed head of Class Notes .............. 20 chemistry. Albert N. Murray named head of geology. Tuition was $75 per 18-week semester plus $12.50 for fees and $153 for room and board.