EN<em>g</em>INEER UPDATE

Thomas O. Hunter (B.S. ME '66)
Gator Engineering Alumnus Honors Dean

Hunter, president and laboratories director of Sandia National Laboratories, and a longtime Dean's Advisory Board member, has worked closely with Dean Khargonekar and gave $20,000 to start a college endowment in Khargonekar's honor.

By Kim Wilmath
Thomas Hunter

The Dean’s Excellence Fund will give unrestricted money to future deans for research, equipment, travel, facility renovations and teaching. The goal is to raise $100,000 more within a year and $1 million in about five years. The fund may be eligible for $50,000 in state matching funds.

“The future of this college is dependent on a substance of quality,” Hunter said. “The foundation he (Khargonekar) has laid is that this is going to be a nationally recognized university.”

Another new endowment, the Pramod P. Khargonekar Junior Faculty Award for Excellence, will be used to support junior faculty. That fund has a goal of $50,000.

For more information about these funds, visit www.development.eng.ufl.edu.