The Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering recently received a generous donation to establish the Richard Rosenberg Endowed Professorship.
The donation honored Rosenberg—a 1954 graduate of the department—during a ceremony in which he and three others were inducted into the department’s new hall of fame.
Rosenberg said that being accepted to UT was not an easy task because he had poor grades from a previous institution. But he was desperate to study at UT—because his wife, Esther, had agreed to marry him if he completed his degree.
After he convinced then-department head Joel Bailey to admit him and give him a chance to prove himself, Rosenberg excelled in his classes, completed his degree, and went on to have a very successful career in engineering—working at Oak Ridge, Westinghouse, and General Atomic.
Rosenberg traveled the globe during his profession and was named San Diego Engineer of the Year in 1988. He served as president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and received the Dedicated Service Award and Centennial Medallion from ASME in 1988.
In 2003, Rosenberg was named an honorary member of ASME for his contributions to the engineering profession—a designation that only 350 people have received since the group was created in 1880.
“A gift in Mr. Rosenberg’s honor is very meaningful,” said current department head Matthew Mench. “I think Mr. Rosenberg represents all that a great state school like UT can do. He got a second chance at UT thanks to Bailey, and he took it and ran with it and went to the top of his profession with hard work, honor, and integrity.
“That to me is what we are all about, and I am so proud that our department will have an endowed professorship in his name.”
The department plans to fill the professorship position next year.
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CONTACT:
Kathy Williams (865-974-8615, williamk@utk.edu)