Five Honored as UA Distinguished Engineering Fellows

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama College of Engineering recently honored five alumni of the College by inducting them into its class of 2004 Distinguished Engineering Fellows.

Marce Fuller, Dr. Mohammad A. Karim, G. William Quinby, Alfred J. Saliba and Edward F. Tatum were selected for the top honor the College presents.

Marce Fuller, president, chief executive officer and director of Mirant, has reached the ultimate dream of many business women today. Under her guidance, Mirant, a Fortune 500 company, has emerged as a global energy company with an extensive portfolio of power assets. Because of her dedication and hard work, Fuller ranked fifth in Fortune magazine’s annual list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2001. She ranked 37th in 2002 and was listed among Fortune’s People to Watch. After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from UA, Fuller began her career in 1983 as an applications engineer for General Electric Co. She later went to work for Southern Company as a staff engineer in electric system planning. In 1994, she received her master’s degree in power system engineering from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. That same year, she was named senior vice president and later executive vice president of Mirant’s North America division. Fuller resides in Atlanta, Ga.

Dr. Mohammad A. Karim is dean of engineering at the City College of New York (CCNY) of the City University of New York (CUNY) system. As dean of engineering, he has led the development of a multi-campus flagship initiative in photonics research that involved six different campuses. He has also steered the formation of two new research entities known as the CUNY Institute of Urban Systems and the Center for Information, Telecommunications and Networking, as well as creating a new Department of Biomedical Engineering. Karim received his master’s degrees in physics and in electrical engineering and his doctorate in electrical engineering from UA. Karim has written nine books, 12 journal special issues, and has been published in more than 130 conference publications and more than 170 journals. He resides in Pleasantville, N.Y.

G. William Quinby is the national director of contract management for Kellogg, Brown & Root in Houston, Texas, and is responsible for business practices in KBR’s infrastructure projects throughout the Americas. After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mineral engineering at UA, Quinby began an Army career in the 27th Airborne Engineer Battalion, where he served in project engineer assignments for U.S. Coast Guard stations in Italy and Saudi Arabia. While in the Army, he earned his master’s degree in management at the University of South California. In 1990, Quinby worked in private practice as civil engineer for Sain Associates in Birmingham and worked again in the Middle East with E-Systems Inc. He held chief financial officer and COO positions with Paragon Project Resources Inc., a construction management firm in Dallas, Texas, and in 1996, Quinby served as vice president of program management and construction for Qwest Communications. He resides in Golden, Colo.

Alfred J. Saliba is founder and president of Alfred Saliba Homes Inc., Coldwell Banker Alfred Saliba Realty Corp., Alfred Saliba Development Corp., and Houston Properties Inc. He acts as founding partner of London International Group LLC, the largest U.S. manufacturer of latex products, SAF Yeast, formerly Columbia Yeast, and Behavioral Health Systems, one of the Southeast’s leading providers of corporate mental health managed care. After graduating in 1953 from UA with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, Saliba joined the U.S. Air Force. While stationed at Haneda Air Force Base, he was the chief engineer responsible for all new construction and renovations at the airport. In 1989, Saliba was elected mayor for the city of Dothan and served for eight years. Because of his excellent managerial skills as mayor, former Gov. Fob James proclaimed Nov. 21, 1997, as “Alfred Saliba Day.” Saliba resides in Dothan.

Edward F. Tatum, director of corporate development for Albemarle Corp., has dedicated his career to the petrochemicals business. With Albemarle, he led a project due diligence team on acquisition of a $65-million phosphorus flame retardant business. With a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from UA, Tatum started his career as a manager in industrial chemicals for Ethyl Corp. In 1993, Ethyl formed Albemarle Corp. and Tatum became the business director of olefins and alcohols. After three years with Albemarle, the company sold its olefin and alcohol division to Amoco, where Tatum kept the same job. Amoco was later sold to BP, and again Tatum led the growing olefins and alcohols division. In 1999, Tatum decided to return to Albemarle, where he served as global business director before assuming his current position. In addition to his leadership skills, Tatum excels at research and received two U.S. patents on novel compounds for advanced polymer applications. Tatum, a native of Tuscaloosa, resides in Baton Rouge, La.

In 1837, UA became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering, with about 1,900 students and more than 90 faculty, is one of the three oldest continuously operating engineering programs in the country and has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.

Note to the Editor: Photos to accompany this release are available from Mary Wymer at mwymer@coe.eng.ua.edu.