HEWSON ENGINEERING FACULTY FELLOWS

HEWSON FAMILY FOUNDATION GIFT PROPELS FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION EFFORTS FOR THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

As one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering instruction, The University of Alabama College of Engineering has long been a leader in engineering and computer science education. Today, more than 185 years after its founding, the College continues to see exponential growth in its student population and research activities. To sustain this growth, both the recruitment and retention of renowned faculty remain at the forefront of the College’s priorities.

In the spring of 2023, the Hewson Family Foundation bolstered the College’s efforts by pledging a $300,000 gift to establish the Hewson Engineering Faculty Fellows awards. Through the program, the College will award 20 faculty members over the next three years. In addition, the gift will also generate an opportunity to enhance retention efforts by recognizing exceptional work among existing faculty members and providing them resources to support their ongoing research.

“We are grateful for the generosity of the Hewson family and their continued support,” said Dr. Clifford Henderson, dean of the College of Engineering. “As a result of their gift, we have the ability to be more nationally competitive in making job offers, which will allow us to attract the best and brightest new faculty and positively impact the future success of our College.”

New and existing faculty members who are selected as fellows of the program will receive a $5,000 stipend each year for three years, for a total of $15,000. Stipends will be used at the fellows’ discretion to support critical components of their role such as research activities and participation in conferences.

“Contributions like the Hewson Foundation’s enhance the College’s prestige as it recognizes and promotes excellent faculty work,” said Jenny Pyle, associate senior director of development for the College of Engineering. “This gift strategically supports the College by celebrating and supporting rising faculty stars who will both advance our research profile and also serve as inspiration and motivation to the students they educate in our classrooms.”

While the stipends will open the door to numerous career advancement opportunities for the award recipients, the Hewson family hopes the impact of the awards will extend far beyond the fellows and propel the overall advancement of the College.

“As a family, our giving through the Hewson Family Foundation is primarily focused on education because we believe it is transformative and empowering,” said Marillyn Hewson. “By donating to the UA College of Engineering, we hope to enhance the recruitment and retention of outstanding engineering faculty, as they are the cornerstone of a high-quality education. It’s clear that accomplished faculty bring cutting-edge knowledge, deep experience, and innovative research that will enhance students’ educational experiences and improve their job prospects. We hope our gift will extend and strengthen the impact of the College of Engineering for many years to come.”

The inaugural class of Hewson Engineering Faculty Fellows was selected in January 2024 and includes Dr. Bineet Ghosh, Dr. Sevgi Gurbuz, Dr. James Harris, Dr. Chongze Hu, Dr. Matthew Kasemer, Dr. Gregory Kubacki, Dr. Lina Pu and Dr. Zhongyang Wang.