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Funding the Future Tech alumnus establishes professorship to nurture Hispanic talent By Victor Rogers
A
lthough educated in a strict engineering curriculum, Alfredo Estrada has never felt restricted to follow just one track. After a series of successful corporate experiences, he saw opportunity beyond his corporate achievements. He established and became chairman and CEO of Pan American Enterprises, a diversified holding company with substantial interests in publishing, management consulting, banking, construction and the environmental protection industry. Throughout his career, Estrada, a 1954 mechanical engineering graduate, has supported Georgia Tech in a number of ways, such as funding graduate fellowships and a garden in memory of former Dean of Students George Griffin. Estrada's latest contribution to Tech is the Fred and Teresa Estrada Young Professorship in the College of Engineering, funded at $30,000 per year for five years. The professorship supports development of a leading young Hispanic professor at Georgia Tech and encourages innova tion, education and research, thereby nurturing the recipient's professional development.
Jorge Vanegas, associate professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, is the first recipient of the Fred and Teresa Estrada scholarship.
The first recipient of the professorship is Jorge Vanegas, an associate professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and leader of the Construction Group. "I firmly believe that responsibility follows recognition," Vanegas says. "Consequently, I will respond to the generosity of Fred Estrada, to the spirit and intent upon which the professorship was established, and to the faith and confidence that Georgia Tech has in me. This appointment has infused a new level of energy and passion in me," he adds. "I became very enthusiastic about the program and decided to fund it," Estrada says, "because it supports not only the university and the development of a deserving young professor, but also the many students whom someone like Dr. Vanegas will be able to advise and guide with his bilingual and bicultural abilities." Vanegas' research interests include sustainable development and technology for design and construction of facilities and infrastructure; advanced strategies, tools and methods for effective management of capital projects; and multimedia, visualization, and simulation technologies for civil and construction engineering, and management education and practice. Stanley Leary
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GEORGIA TECH • Fall 1999
MAGAZINE
Fred Estrada, ME '54, and his wife, Teresa, fund a five-year professorship for a young Hispanic professor.
He has a B.S. in architecture from the Universidad de los Andes, Santafe de Bogota, Colombia; and master's and doctoral degrees in civil engineering from Stanford University. His honors and awards include: Visiting Eminent Scholar, Universidad Autdnoma de Yucatan, Merida, Mexico, 1997; Construction Industry Institute Outstanding Instructor Award, 1995; Visiting Eminent Scholar, The Del E. Webb School of Construction, Arizona State University, 1995; National Science Foundation National Young Investigator Award, 1992; and the GE Foundation Junior Faculty Fellowship, Faculty for the Future Program, 1991-93. Vanegas is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Society of Engineering Education, GT Victor Rogers is a writer for Institute Communications and Public Affairs.