Rose-Hulman alumnus establishes fellowship honoring former physics professor
A gift from alumnus Michael A. Huhnke and his wife, Karen, to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology will support a new endowed faculty fellowship for the Physics and Optical Engineering Department.
The fellowship will be named in honor of former professor Bruce Danner.
The Dr. Bruce R. Danner Endowed Faculty Fellowship will start in spring 2025 and support a current professor's expertise in physics, optical engineering, or nanoengineering, lead to conversations with other educators in career fields, and encourage research opportunities with undergraduate students, the institute said in a news release.
The support for the fellowship "is essential in our efforts to attract and retain exceptional professors who provide our students with the world's best undergraduate STEM education, while inspiring and preparing students for lives of purpose and success," said Robert A. Coons, Rose-Hulman president.
Michael Huhnke is a 1975 physics and mechanical engineering alumnus.
"We picked the Physics Department because of my very strong feeling that physics provides one of, if not the most important, foundational pieces that all of the other science and engineering disciplines rest upon," he said. "It is my belief that Rose-Hulman must have and maintain a superb physics area, which of course means maintaining first-class instructors, to continue to succeed in its mission."
Danner was a member of the Rose-Hulman faculty for 30 years and after retiring in 1998 continued teaching on campus as an adjunct professor until 2012. He also spent time as director of Rose-Hulman's Waters Computer Center and helped establish a consortium with computer center directors from DePauw University (his alma mater), Franklin College, and Wabash College. He died in 2018.
Danner was Huhnke's faculty advisor. "What he was really good at ... was relating to his student, and that is what I remember about him the most. He could make us feel like we could do it, too."
Huhnke has enjoyed a 50-year career working in the petroleum industry, spending more than 45 years as vice president of operations with Texas Crude Energy.
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