Meritorious Faculty Engagement

All three Rogers brothers followed in their father’s engineering footsteps and University footsteps, graduating from UTC with bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering: Jim Jr. in 1974, Bruce in 1979 and Steve in 1990.

Interestingly enough, during Steve’s freshman year, his father was his instructor for an engineering graphics course.

“I had him at 8 o’clock in the morning, three days a week,” Steve says, “and it was neat to see our father as a teacher instead of just as a father. He was a great teacher; he really was.

“I’ve run into people that had him as their teacher talk about how great he was and how he was willing to spend time in his office working one-on-one with students having trouble. These were the same kinds of stories I heard with the work he did with the food service.”

That spirit of service inspired the brothers to feature a service component as a scholarship requirement.

“One of the things we wanted was for students to have a service mindset,” Bruce says. “We hope the recipients will learn a little bit about who Jim Rogers was and the service he did. Maybe that will make a difference 30 or 40 years down the road and they’ll decide to give back or pay it forward.”

Bruce then cites thank-you letters he and his brothers have received from scholarship recipients.

“Reading the notes, you can imagine yourself as that 18- or 19-year-old trying to make ends meet,” he says. “To read about what their education aim is and how the scholarship is helping them along just brings a smile to your face.”

The brothers say their father was never in it for personal glory. As Steve says, it would have been meaningful to him to know that students benefit from scholarship assistance.

“I think he would be thrilled to be associated with something that’s helping students along the way,” Bruce adds.

“I think it would be really heartfelt to him,” Jim Jr. says. “He had a big heart for everybody.”

Faculty Recognition

Dr. Don Reising

Dr. Hong Qin, Promoted to Professor of Computer Science and Engineering

UC Foundation Professors:

an honor given to professors by leadership who wish to strengthen the ties between outstanding junior faculty and the university Dr. Donald R. Reising, Electrical Engineering — New Dr. Mengjun Xie, Computer Science and Engineering Dr. Michael Danquah, Chemical Engineering Dr. Trevor Elliott, Mechanical Engineering Dr. Dalei Wu, Computer Science and Engineering

Guerry Professors:

created in 1961 by the Guerry family. The professorships are among the most prestigious professorships awarded at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Dr. Li Yang, Computer Science and Engineering — Renewed Dr. Michael Danquah, Chemical Engineering Dr. Daniel Loveless, Electrical Engineering Dr. Mina Sartipi, Computer Science and Engineering