UA Honors Six Distinguished Engineering Fellows

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama College of Engineering honored six alumni by inducting them into its 2013 class of Distinguished Engineering Fellows.

Each year, the College of Engineering inducts a select group of alumni and friends as Distinguished Engineering Fellows. Recognition as a Distinguished Fellow is the highest commendation given to graduates and others who have strengthened the reputation of the College of Engineering through their efforts.

Since the recognition’s inception 25 years ago, fewer than 400 individuals out of an estimated 27,000 alumni and friends have been recognized as Distinguished Engineering Fellows.

The 2013 class includes Earl R. Foust, of Birmingham; George T. Goodwyn, of Montgomery; Patricia T. Martin, of Madison; Pamela McCue, of Athens; Richard L. Mullen, of Jasper; and Walter Schoel III, of Birmingham.

The inductees were honored at a March 16 ceremony at the North River Yacht Club in Tuscaloosa. For complete biographies of this year’s Distinguished Engineering Fellows, visit eng.ua.edu/awards.

Earl R. Foust
Group President, Global Utility Business Segment, Valmont Industries Inc.

Earl Foust has been a dedicated engineer in the utility business for more than 40 years. Foust came to UA through Alabama Power, which sponsored his master’s work in the College of Engineering. Throughout his career, Foust rose to head Valmont-Newmark in Birmingham, now a part of Valmont Industries. The segment of Valmont Industries is a global leader in supplying the utility industry, ensuring the utility grid is durable, environmentally-friendly and economical. The company is the world’s largest provider of spun concrete, tubular steel and hybrid poles used in electrical transmission, distribution and substations systems with more than $800 million in annual sales. The firm designed and built some of the most difficult projects ever attempted in their field. A 2007 inductee in the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame, Foust also is a registered professional engineer and holds three patents.

George T. Goodwyn
Retired Founder and President of Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood Inc.

Whether an Army officer, business owner, philanthropist or engineer, George Goodwyn has never been satisfied with being merely adequate. The small civil engineering firm Goodwyn began in 1965 grew into one of the largest and most successful multidisciplinary design firms in the Southeast with offices across the region. With more than 300 employees, Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood Inc. implements more than $400 million in construction projects annually. The legacy of Goodwyn’s professional career is apparent in much of central Alabama’s infrastructure, and in recognition of his accomplishments, he was inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame two years ago. He has influenced many practicing engineers through his mentoring and exemplary career.

Patricia T. Martin
Retiring Director, Engineering Directorate, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center

Patricia Martin has dedicated her 30-year career to serving the United States Army, its soldiers and its engineering missions. She is known for her leadership and expertise in the fields of systems and specialty engineering and rapid response prototyping. She has worked as a systems engineer for missile simulation tests and as the first program manager for the Prototype Integration Facility. In 2006, Martin joined the Senior Executive Service as the director, Engineering Directorate.  During her tenure at the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center, Martin managed an annual business portfolio of more than $900 million and was responsible for ensuring aviation and missile products were producible, reliable, sustainable and of high quality. She has received numerous awards during her career including the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award.

Pamela McCue
Director, Missile and Space Intelligence Center, U.S. Department of Defense

As director at the Missile and Space Intelligence Center, Pamela McCue leads hundreds of engineers and scientists in conducting both analytic and laboratory assessments. In this role, McCue’s focus is ensuring the United States Department of Defense has detailed intelligence to build effective systems, countermeasures and survivability equipment needed by the military. Throughout her career, McCue has planned, executed and directed efforts in building the engineering capability to analyze intelligence information on foreign missile and space systems. She has received various government awards during her service, including recognition from the Office of the Secretary of Defense Federal Women’s Program in 2006 as the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Supervisor of the Year.

Richard L. Mullen
Executive Vice President Mining for Drummond Co. Inc

With more than 30 years of engineering expertise dedicated to Drummond Co. Inc., Richard Mullen rose from a mining engineer to executive vice president, and, along the way, he helped the company become an international leader in the coal industry. In his role as executive vice president, Mullen is responsible for all of Drummond’s surface mining operations including those in Alabama and Colombia, South America, as well as railroad and port operations and gas development activities in Colombia. He assists in expansion plans and activities in Colombia with ongoing projects that will include a total of $3.8 billion in capital when completed. A registered professional engineer, Mullen is the past state chair of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration.

Dr. Walter Schoel III
President of Walter Schoel Engineering Co. Inc.

Dr. Walter Schoel III has devoted his career to the growth and continued success of Walter Schoel Engineering Co., a business founded by his family 125 years ago. The firm was inducted in the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 2007. Schoel began his work for the company while earning his doctorate at the Capstone, pioneering the design of stormwater management devices in the Jefferson County area. In his role of president and chief engineer, Schoel has supervised the design of numerous landmark projects in Alabama, and he has leveraged his expertise in hydrology to improve infrastructure throughout the state. He is the co-author of Part One of the NPDES permit for Jefferson County and included municipalities, and he has been involved in numerous FEMA flood studies.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has more than 3,900 students and more than 110 faculty. In the last eight years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater, Hollings, Portz, Mitchell and Truman scholars.