TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)— A Rose-Hulman Alumnus and his wife have given back to the school in honor and memory of a former professor and faculty advisor.
Michael A. Huhnke and his wife, Karen, have made a large donation to Michael’s alma mater Rose-Hulman in the form of starting the Dr. Bruce Danner Endowed Faculty Fellowship. The Fellowship will be used to support a current professor’s expertise in either physics, optical engineering, or nanoengineering. This can lead to conversations with other educators in career fields, and encourage research opportunities with undergraduate students.
“When Karen and I decided to make a large donation somewhere, Rose-Hulman was the logical spot for several reasons,” said Michael Huhnke, a 1975 physics and mechanical engineering alumnus. “It was the place where I was given an opportunity to learn to excel in my chosen field, provided an academic environment that met my needs, and pushed me to achieve without overwhelming me from a social standpoint.”
The Physics and Optical Engineering Department was chosen due to its being a foundational piece of all the sciences and engineering taught at the school, according to Michael Huhnke. Dr. Danner, the professor honored by the fellowship, was Michel Huhnke’s Faculty Advisor when he attended the school in the 1970s and encouraged him to add a major in mechanical engineering. Dr. Danner was a member of the faculty at Rose-Hulman for three decades and, after retiring in 1988, stayed teaching as an adjunct professor until 2012. He died in 2018.
“When considering the people at Rose-Hulman, and particularly within the physics department, who had helped and encouraged me the most, Dr. Danner was my faculty advisor. He did a good job guiding me through the many pitfalls that might befall a reasonably intelligent student competing with several quite brilliant scholars,” Huhnke recalled. “What he was really good at though 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.”
Dr. Danner also served as Director of Rose-Hulman’s Waters Computer Center, helped establish a consortium with computer center directors of three other colleges, and was instrumental in providing laptops for all first-year students. Michael Huhnke has now enjoyed a 50-year career working in the petroleum industry as Vice President of Operations at Texas Crude Energy in Houston, Texas.
“My Rose-Hulman education has paid huge dividends for me professionally and personally. It was time for me to give back through establishing this faculty fellowship,” he stated.
