1999-2000 Tau Beta Pi Fellows

Tau Beta Pi's Fellowship Board announces the selection of 35 young engineering graduates from 248 applicants for graduate fellowships in 1998-99. Twenty of this year's winners will receive cash stipends of $10,000 for their advanced study; the others do not need financial aid from Tau Beta Pi. More than $3,335,000 in stipends will have been given by the society when this 656h group of winners completes its graduate work.
All Tau Beta Pi Fellowships are awarded on the competitive basis of high scholarship, campus leadership and service, and promise of future contributions to the engineering profession. All fellows are members of Tau Beta Pi and may do their graduate work at any institution they choose.
Nine of the winners will study electrical engineering, six mechanical engineering, five chemical engineering, three biomedical , three computer engineering, two materials engineering, and seven have chosen other individual areas.

Given for the 15th time, the Centennial Fellowship honors the Society's most outstanding fellow.

The Charles H. Spencer Fellowship is given for the 44rd time. Named for Tau Beta Pi's national president in 1936-47, it is awarded to that winner whose contributions to his or her collegiate chapter are judged worthy of commendation.

The Harold M. King Fellowship, awarded for the 38th time, honors the 1954-58 President of Tau Beta Pi and is given to that winner whose participation in his or her technical society is judged worthy of special mention.

Five Tau Beta Pi-James Fife Fellowships are presented in memory of the father of the late member William Fife, CA A '21.

The Tau Beta Pi-Sigma Tau award, given for the 26th time, perpetuates the name of Sigma Tau, national engineering honor society founded at the University of Nebraska in 1904 and merged into Tau Beta Pi in 1974. It also commemorates Sigma Tau's former national president and secretary-treasurer, Clarel B. Mapes.

The Donald A. Stark Fellowship is supported by a gift from a charitable trust named for the man who contributed much to progress in the fluid-power industry.

The Edward H. Williams Jr. Fellowship honors the founder of Tau Beta Pi and is given to a winner who plans to earn a doctoral degree and become a professional engineering teacher, as was Dr. Williams. It is awarded for the 19th time.

The Walter E. Deuchler Sr. Fellowship, IL A '10, presented for the 20th time, is given to a winner whose work is to be in civil, urban, or environmental engineering.

The Tau Beta Pi-Maddox Fellowship, awarded for the fourth time, is named in honor of Arthur Maddox, OK A '30, who bequeathed a significant gift to the Society.

The Tau Beta Pi-Lenfesty Fellowship, given for the third time, is named in honor of Franklin A. Lenfesty, IN A '21, who bequeathed a significant gift to the Association.

The Matthews Fellowship is awarded in honor of R.C. "Red" Matthews, IL A '02, who served as Secretary and Secretary-Treasurer in 1905-47 and as Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus in 1947-78.

The Nagel Fellowship is given to honor Robert H. Nagel, NY D '39, for his service as Editor and Secretary-Treasurer during 1942-82 and as Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus in 1982-97.

Another award is named in recognition of the outstanding performance of the National Headquarters staff.

These awards, together with the numbered Tau Beta Pi Fellowships, bring the total to 980 fellowships granted since the program was inaugurated in 1929. The 1998-99 Tau Beta Pi Fellows are introduced on the following list.

Tau Beta Pi has named its third Raymond A. and Ina C. Best Fellow in its three-year-old program to assist members who study business administration. The primary concern of Tau Beta Pi is to recognize students of superior scholarship and exemplary character and to honor eminent practicing engineers; the society also encourages excellence in engineering education and in the ethical practice of engineering.
Through the interest of the Best family, a trust fund in memory of Ina C. and Raymond A. Best, NY G '33, was established by Tau Beta Pi in 1995 for a scholarship for a graduate engineer/member to be used for the purpose of studying business administration at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and for acquiring an M.B.A.
The recipient of the 1999 Best Scholarship of $10,000 is David J. Lewison, NY G '97, E.I.T., a 1998 graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in mechanical engineering. He is also pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering.