Summer School's Impact Spans Generations

In less than a decade, we will celebrate the centennial of Summer School for Chemical Engineering Faculty. Launched in 1931, this week-long immersive conference brings together new(er) professors with their more experienced counterparts. Attendees and presenters at Summer School shared it’s more than a meeting, it’s a community which bolsters teaching techniques, builds collaborations, and enhances connections for all.

I learned so much that I wanted to make a gift I hope my giving inspires my fellow faculty to donate. — Dr. Funkenbusch

Many decades ago, Dr. Prausnitz was a presenter at Summer Schools in 1972 and 1982. Imagine being at Summer School and interacting with and learning from a leader in both chemical engineering research and education as well as a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a future National Medal of Science recipient. Today, he’s a donor. 

In summer 2022, Professor Funkenbusch was a first-time attendee at Summer School in Golden, CO, who is in her 4th year as a faculty member. Today, she is also a donor. 

Two individuals whose sole connection is Summer School. 

LiLu Funkenbusch, Instructional Assistant Professor at the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, 

University of Florida shared “The Education Division is such a lovely, welcoming group of people. For the first time in my career, I felt as though it was okay to talk about a lab experiment that failed or an assignment that the students hated it. Unlike most other divisions, where there's a push to only present success, at Summer School we’re open and honest because we're working towards the same goal - improving education for all of our students.” 

The next Summer School is tentatively scheduled for July 2027. Your donation, like that of Dr. Prausnitz and Dr. Funkenbusch, will ensure that professors from around the country and the globe can convene, both with each other and with their industrial counterparts to further strengthening the profession and increasing student success, today and for future generations of chemical engineers.

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