Michigan Gamma Celebrates 100 years

MI G Winter 2006 officers and invited speakers (in t-shirts left to right),Usama Fayad, MI G '84, Chief Data Oficer & Senior V.P., Yahoo!, Inc.; Michael Davis, V.P., Military Support Programs, Lockheed Martin Corp.; Christopher Shank, Dir. of Strategic Investments, NASA; and Raymond Wilcox, MI G '68, Chairman and CEO, Chevron Phillips Chemical in light blue t-shirt. More photos below. Photos by Michael Chang

On April 7-9, 2006, the Michigan Gamma chapter of Tau Beta Pi celebrated its 100 th anniversary with a weekend that featured the homecoming of notable Michigan alumni.

The anniversary weekend began on Friday, April 7, with a public lecture by Nobel laureate Samuel C. C. Ting, MI G ’59. Ting, currently the Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gave an inspiring lecture titled “Encounter with 20 th Century Physics,” which featured his reflections on his engineering education and his subsequent career as a physicist. Ting shared the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physics with Burton Richter for the discovery of the J/psi particle. Following the address, the chapter hosted a welcoming reception for returning alumni and current members.

The College of Engineering has seen many changes since the establishment of the Michigan Gamma Chapter of Tau Beta Pi on June 14, 1906. On Saturday, April 8, alumni were invited to participate in tours of the engineering campus of the University of Michigan, including the newly completed Computer Science and Engineering building. After the tours, the alumni were invited to attend the initiation of the newest members of the Michigan Gamma chapter. The initiation team was Jack Li, MI G ’06; Ahmir Rashid, MI G ’05; Brad Dobbie, MI G ’07; Vikas Reddy, MI G ’06; Semant Jain, MI G '07; Ayesha Soares, MI G ’06; Jessica TerBush, MI G ’03; Jeff Hamel, MI G ’07; Bryan Toth, MI G ’04; and Pritpaul Mahal, MI G ’07. Forty-seven undergraduates and sixteen graduate students were inducted into Michigan Gamma.

Following the initiation members, alumni and guests were invited to attend a banquet and celebrate the first century of the Michigan Gamma chapter of Tau Beta Pi. Raymond Wilcox, MI G ’68, President & Chief Executive Officer of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company; and Christopher Shank, Director of Strategic Investments of NASA, delivered a few remarks before dinner. The meal was followed by remarks by Michael Davis, Vice President, Military Support Programs, Lockheed Martin; and Usama Fayyad, MI G ’84, Chief Data Officer & Senior Vice President of Yahoo!. The chapter presented awards and gifts to the most outstanding electee, the most outstanding electee team, distinguished actives, the most outstanding active, and the invited speakers. Dr. John Luchini, MI G ’71, Engineering Futures facilitator and former Executive Councillor (1994-1998), presented the chapter with a plaque from headquarters to commemorate the first centennial of Michigan Gamma. The banquet closed with performances of the Tau Beta Pi yell by the chapter officers, then the alumni, and finally the newly-elected members of Michigan Gamma.

The final event of Michigan Gamma’s 100 th anniversary celebration was a farewell brunch on Sunday, April 9. Dr. John Norton, MI G ’06, delivered some remarks about the dual role of success and failure in engineering.

Article and photos submitted by Elson Liu, AZ A '02, Fall 2006 President of MI Gamma

Cake at Michigan Gamma's 100th anniversary banquet.

Plaque on display at Michigan Gamma's 100th anniversary banquet..

Michigan Gamma's 100th anniversary banquet.