Tau Beta Pi Awards 35 Fellowships

[List of Fellows]

The Fellowship Board of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, announces the selection of 35 young engineering students from 217 applicants for graduate fellowships in 2008-09. Twenty-six 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 $4,825,000 in stipends will have been given by the Society when this 75th group of scholars completes its graduate work. All Tau Beta Pi Fellowships are awarded on the competitive criteria 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.

Eleven of the winners will study mechanical engineering, five chemical engineering, three civil engineering, three electrical engineering, two civil and environmental engineering, and two structural engineering. The others have chosen to study materials science and engineering, medicine, patent law, and aerospace and astronautical, biological systems, coastal, computer, environmental, and geotechnical engineering.

Tau Beta Pi was founded at Lehigh University in 1885. It has collegiate chapters at 234 engineering colleges in the United States and active alumnus chapters in 18 cities. It has initiated nearly 500,000 members in its 123-year history and is the world's largest engineering Society.

Given for the 23rd time, the Centennial Fellowship honors the Society's most outstanding fellow.

The Charles H. Spencer Fellowship is given for the 53rd 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 47th 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.

The 12 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 35th time, perpetuates the name of Sigma Tau, a 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, awarded for the 29th time, honors the founder of Tau Beta Pi. It is given to a winner who plans to earn a doctoral degree and become a professional engineering teacher, as was Dr. Williams. The Walter E. Deuchler Sr. Fellowship, IL A '10, alsopresented for the 29th time, is given to a student of civil, urban, or environmental engineering.

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, P.E., NY D '39, for his service as Editor and Secretary-Treasurer during 1942-82 and as Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus in 1982-97.

The Anderson Fellowship is named for Mabel E. and Marshall Anderson, MI G '32, who left a bequest to the Society in 2005. The Hanley Fellowship is named for Edward P. Hanley IL B '42, whose widow, Mary A. Hanley, left a bequest to Tau Beta Pi in 2007. Also that year, the Association received a bequest from the estates of David L. Arm, PA E '30, and his wife, Rena Miller Arm, sufficient to permanently endow the Arm Fellowship. The Lynnworth Fellowship recognizes Lawrence C. Lynnworth, NY E '58, whose generous gift in 2007 funded this award.

These awards bring the total to 1,328 fellowships granted since the program was inaugurated in 1929. The 2008-09 Tau Beta Pi Fellows are introduced on the following list.