Alumni Dynamics
Alumni Dynamics
From left to right: Dr. Jerry W. Jackson, Michael Wolfe, Wiely Boswell, B. Keith Roberson, Cmdr. Brandt Moslener and Keith Hefner From left to right: Aubrey Allen Free, Peter Gunter Prater, Rodney Wade Summerford, Linda Rodgers Sveinsson and Paul R. Wildes
Alumni Notes 1962
1976
1968
Dr. Richard Douglas Kramer, MSEng, retired from the Missile Defense Agency as a propulsion subject-matter expert.
Col. Charles Schimmer Jr., BSMtE and MSMtE ’63, discontinued operations of GAIA-VULCAN Engineering Corp. and placed his professional license in retirement. Dr. Jerry W. Jackson, BSChE, received the Improvement Advisor certificate from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Jackson is medical director for Nephrology Associates in Birmingham, Ala., which was also named a Center of Excellence by Fresenius Medical Care.
1974
M. Blane McGlawn, BSMinE and MSMinE ’77, accepted a position with Energen Resources in Birmingham, Ala.
Joe Robinson, MSCE, retired after 37 years as an engineer with the city of Tuscaloosa, Ala., his last position as head of the office of city engineer.
1980
Michael Wolfe, BSChE, joined Brightstar Corp. as senior vice president, chief information officer and chief technology officer. Brightstar provides specialized global wireless distribution and services.
1982
In Memory
Jobs. Promotions. Awards.
Wiely Boswell, BSEE, was selected as the Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year by the Society of Broadcast Engineers. Boswell is the chief engineer for Faith Radio in Montgomery, Ala.
1983
B. Keith Roberson, BSIE, received the Joseph P. Cribbins Medal from the Association of the U.S. Army given annually to a current or retired Department of Army civilian. Roberson serves as executive director, Integrated Material Management Center, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command in Huntsville, Ala. Cmdr. Brandt Moslener, BSIE, was tapped to lead the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.
1985
Keith Hefner, BSIE, was named to the Senior Executive Service position of manager of the Program Planning and Control Office for NASA’s Space Launch System Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
1993
Timothy Hugh Calvert, BSME and MSME ’95, joined Forth & Van Dyke engineering firm as a client team leader helping open the company’s first office in Atlanta, Ga.
2006
Robert “Bobby” Gibson, BSEE, was promoted to SQL database developer at Insuresoft, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
2008
Kerri Ellen Hay Carr, BSChE, joined Health Information Designs in Auburn, Ala., as a project manager. Something we missed? Please send us your professional achievement and recognitions for inclusion in Alumni Notes by visiting eng.ua.edu/alumni/update.
Aubrey Allen Free
Aubrey Allen Free died on Sept. 12, 2012, in Hoover, Ala. After serving in the U. S. military during the Korean War he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1956. Afterward, he went to work for Rust Engineering and Construction before serving as president of Cowan International in 1980. Eight years later, Free became president of SimonsBecon, an engineering and construction company in Atlanta, Ga., but later returned to Rust Engineering and Construction, where he served as president and CEO until his retirement in 1996. He was a member of the University’s Engineering Advisory Board and received the UA Department of Civil Engineering Fellow in 1993. That same year he was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow.
Peter Gunter Prater
Peter “Pete” Gunter Prater died July 20, 2012, in Hendersonville, Tenn. Prater received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University in 1940. After serving as a weapons engineer and test pilot for the U. S. Army Air Force in World War II, he worked as a chemical engineer for DuPont Co. and later helped to form Chemtex, an international textile manufacturer. Prater was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow in 1988. He was also named an Honorary Trustee for the Volunteer State College Foundation in Gallatin, Tenn.
Rodney Wade Summerford
Rodney Wade Summerford died Aug. 16, 2012, in Daphne, Ala. He joined Volkert and Associates in 1964, two years after receiving his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from UA. Summerford rose through various positions to become senior vice president, and he
retired in 2007. He was involved in crucial projects such as the Mobile Municipal Airport and Interstate 565 in Huntsville, Ala. He served as president of ASCE and ASPE. He is a department of civil, construction and environmental engineering Fellow, and he was selected in 1992 as a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow. A charter member of the Capstone Engineering Society board, he also served as chair.
Linda Rodgers Sveinsson
Linda Rodgers Sveinsson died on Dec. 6, 2012, in Falls Church, Va. A native of Northport, Ala., Sveinsson was the daughter of Dr. Eric and Sarah Rodgers. Eric Rodgers was a UA physics professor and the dean of the Graduate School from 1958 to 1971, and Sarah Rodgers was a longtime statistics professor at UA. Under a National Science Foundation Scholarship, Sveinsson graduated from the University in 1972 with a master’s degree in industrial engineering. Her bachelor’s degree in mathematics was from Birmingham-Southern College. Her diverse career included development of real-time systems in the 1960s, including online control systems for multi-megawatt steam-power plants for the Tennessee Valley Authority, and development of a unique network operating system for a multiple medical laboratories at The University of Alabama Medical Center. She also worked for Bell Laboratories. Her last assignment was as an engineering manager with Noblis.
John Milton Troha
John Milton Troha died on Aug. 26, 2012, in Birmingham, Ala. He served four years in the U. S. Navy before coming to the University to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1965. For 30 years of his career, Troha worked for Alabama Power Co. and Southern Company Services. He was an employee at Southeastern Electric Reliability Corp. at the time of his death. Continued on page 38
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{ Capstone Engineer • Spring 2013 }
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