Cottinghams endow professorship in civil engineering

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Forever-CottinghamsProfessional engineer Richard Cottingham and his wife, Nancy, of Seneca have pledged $500,000 to establish the J. Richard ’66 and Nancy W. Cottingham Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering Endowment at Clemson.
The Cottinghams are passionate about Clemson and about professional licensure in the engineering profession. Both have served on state boards of registration, and Richard has served as president of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). In 2014, he received the NCEES Distinguished Service Award with Special Commendation for his dedicated service to the engineering and surveying professions — the highest award given by the NCEES.
The endowment will support a distinguished professorship in the Glenn Department of Civil Engineering in the College of Engineering and Science. The recipient must be a professional engineer. Promotion of licensure among students and faculty in the College of Engineering and Science will be one of the primary objectives for the position, thus enriching the student process for professional engineering development and licensure and helping to meet the engineering challenges of the future.
“In my career, I have personally experienced the value of licensure as a professional engineer and am committed to encouraging other Clemson alumni, students and faculty to pursue licensure,” said Cottingham.
An endowed professorship will enable Clemson to attract and retain a professor with national prominence. A portion of the endowment budget will be used to supplement the salary of the named distinguished professor.
“We appreciate this generous gift from the Cottinghams, as well as the countless hours that both Richard and Nancy have invested in promoting licensure to engineers at Clemson,” said Dean Anand Gramopadhye of the College of Engineering and Science.
This gift is part of the Will to Lead for Clemson capital campaign to raise
$1 billion to support Clemson students and faculty with scholarships, professorships, facilities, technology and enhanced opportunities for learning
and research.

Long road to Clemson drives student’s entrepreneurial spirit to help others

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InTheseHills-Kaitlynn_LewisKaitlynn Lewis’s journey to Clemson has been a circuitous one.
Through grit, determination and generous scholarship donors, she has overcome numerous obstacles and hopes to use what she learned from the school of hard knocks — and Clemson — to help others like her move beyond the hardships in their lives.
Lewis is a junior business management major with a nonprofit leadership minor and a concentration in entrepreneurship. Her future looks bright, but it wasn’t always that way.
The oldest of five children, she experienced a tumultuous childhood, having lived a nomadic existence from Texas to Virginia. She spent a good deal of her adolescence homeless, raising her siblings, working multiple jobs while in school, and in foster care. She attended eight high schools, four middle schools and a dozen elementary schools. Lewis’s 17th birthday was marked by her mother’s suicide. Through it all, her spirit and drive to help others hasn’t wavered.
Like the road to Clemson, Lewis’s experience since arriving has been atypical of most 21-year-old college students. When she’s not commuting more than three hours a day to and from Greer, her day is consumed with a variety of jobs, volunteering and, of course, studying.
Scholarships have helped her with the financial burdens of tuition, but she is still supporting herself and has had to work upwards of 50 hours a week to cover living expenses, like food, gas money and car insurance.
“I worry all the time about my future, money and my family,” Lewis said. [pullquote]“Happiness for me would be not having to worry about having food to eat, a place to live or not having to sleep in my car. Without the scholarships, a lot of my career objectives wouldn’t be possible.”[/pullquote]
Outside the classroom, she’s learning and contributing to helping others less fortunate through her involvement in AmeriCorps and organizations like Youth for National Change, which advocates free college tuition for financially challenged foster children.
Lewis sees herself pursuing an entrepreneurial career path in helping people help themselves. “I see myself going the startup route in a way that will enable people in need to be able to sustain themselves and become self-sufficient on a path to stability and becoming productive members of society,” she said.
One startup idea Lewis is championing involves building “tiny” homes for the homeless, where the future inhabitants would play a role in their construction, giving them skin in the game and an accountability. She calls the concept Micro Homes for Macro Hope, and she floated the concept last fall at the Clemson IDEAS student organization’s “Startup Weekend.” The idea received an honorable mention and won the event’s social entrepreneurship award.
“My path to Clemson hasn’t been like a lot of others here, but I’ve learned from it,” Lewis said. “That, combined with the nonprofit leadership and entrepreneurial track of my education here, is preparing me well to make a difference in the world.”
As for life after Clemson, Lewis wants to continue helping others who walked in her footsteps, perhaps through the Peace Corps.
“I’d like to work in business development in the nonprofit sector, maybe helping people start their own business, again along entrepreneurial lines.”
To support students such as Lewis through your giving, go to clemson.edu/giving or call 864.656.5896.

Mentoring on a Mission: Serita Acker M ’99

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Environmental portrait of Serita Acker in the Fluor Daniel Building. Also a group photo with her WISE mentors.

Environmental portrait of Serita Acker in the Fluor Daniel Building. Also a group photo with her WISE mentors.


Mentoring others, especially those who may not realize their potential, has been a lifelong passion for Serita Acker. Those who know her weren’t surprised that she received the 2015 Calder D. Ehrmann Outstanding Individual Award at the 11th Annual Upstate Diversity Leadership Awards dinner. The dinner is hosted by the Richard W. Riley Institute® of Government, Politics and Public Leadership at Furman University and the Greenville Chamber, with support from other Upstate chambers. The event recognizes those who have shown leadership in promoting diversity in the Upstate. Acker was nominated by colleagues but was completely surprised by the honor.
“It was such a great honor to receive it. Calder recently passed, and this award is in his honor and the work he has done. It was very exciting for me. It was such a complete surprise,” said Acker.
Acker is in her 16th year as director of Clemson’s Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program, which provides support and resources for women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Additionally, Acker oversees WISE-sponsored camps and programs to introduce elementary, middle school and high school girls to careers in STEM.
Acker’s outreach in the community is not limited to helping young women. She has worked with the University’s Staff Development Program that trains staff members for professional and personal growth. She has also served as a board member for the Rape Crisis Center to develop initiatives that assist survivors.
In addition, Acker was named one of 10 U.S. individuals selected as a mentor for the 2014-2016 MentorLinks cohort, a program of the American Association of Community Colleges and National Science Foundation that advances technological education. She travels to Texas State Technical College to assist the school in programs that encourage and support Latina women in automotive technology. Acker was also honored by Women of Color magazine with the 2014 College-Level Promotion of Education award. Acker said her Clemson studies were the perfect preparation.
“My Clemson degree in human resource development has done exactly what it was supposed to do. The degree is about training people and helping them develop. My Clemson experience as a student has helped me as a staff member. I love that my journey has been ‘in these hills’ and preparing students for great careers.”
Recently Acker received certification as a Global Career Development Facilitator, where she’ll focus on educating people about STEM career opportunities.
“I like to be that person who bridges the gap between the community and the University,” Acker said. “I want to educate people, encourage people and help them fulfill their dreams.”

Christening the Patrick Anderson

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Lifelong-PatrickAndersonBoatThis spring, a new crew boat hit the water at Clemson, thanks to the generosity of the family and friends of the late Patrick Anderson ’07. Anderson, who passed away last summer, was a member of the rowing club, and family and friends contributed funds in his memory to purchase a new crew boat. The boat was christened the Patrick Anderson before it was used in a race against the University of Georgia.
Crew team member Patrick Essex described the race: “We had a spectacular final race in the Patrick Anderson. We came back from nearly half of a boat-length behind in the last 250 meters of the race to beat UGA by 0.4 seconds, finishing with what I think might be a Clemson sprints record of 6:24.4. It was one of the greatest races I have ever been a part of, and it was obvious that there was something beyond the guys in that boat pushing us forward.”
A ceramics and materials engineering major at Clemson, Anderson was employed by Corning in Wilmington, N.C., as the submarine fiber-products supervisor. He maintained an active lifestyle including running marathons, cross-country biking, triathlons and was an Ironman.

Professors recognized for teaching, research

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Provost Jones with Professor Jack G. Wolf

Provost Jones with Professor Jack G. Wolf


Each year the Alumni Association sponsors two faculty awards: the Alumni Master Teacher and the Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievements in Research. This year’s awards went to Associate Professor of Finance Jack G. Wolf as Alumni Master Teacher and chemistry professor Joseph Kolis for research.
The Alumni Master Teacher Award for outstanding undergraduate classroom instruction is presented to the faculty member nominated by the student body and selected by the Student Alumni Council (SAC).
“Dr. Wolf was chosen because he genuinely cares about his students achieving excellence in and out of the classroom,” said Sterling Lecy, vice president of Clemson Blue Key Honor Society and past president of SAC. “He consistently goes the extra mile to make sure Clemson’s business program is producing top candidates for post-graduate opportunities and devotes his own time to understanding the intersection between theory and practice that is so often overlooked.”
Environmental portrait

Joseph Kolis


The Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research is presented each May at the spring faculty meeting. Wil Brasington, senior director of alumni relations, presented the award to Kolis, a professor of inorganic chemistry. Kolis’ group studies the synthesis and chemistry of novel inorganic compounds with unusual structures and properties. The group is particularly interested in chemistry under very unusual reaction conditions, such as with very high temperatures and pressures, or in exotic solvents.

No Time for Tea: T. Moffatt Burriss ’40

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Profile-T-Moffatt-BurrissAnderson native Moffatt Burriss spent World War II with the famous 82nd Airborne Division, from North Africa to VE Day, but perhaps his most searing memory of World War II is teatime.
His story is featured in the National World War II Museum’s Campaigns of Courage pavilion in New Orleans.
As a company commander in the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Burriss participated in one of the war’s truly heroic actions. Operation Market-Garden was designed to seize a bridge over the lower Rhine at Arnhem in Holland. Burriss and his company quickly captured their initial objective. Next, they were ordered to cross the wide Waal River in a near-suicidal attempt to capture the critical Nijmegen Bridge by attacking from both ends at once. In collapsible, canvas-sided boats, Burriss and his men set out in broad daylight and under German guns. Losing half of his men, Burriss finally reached the north shore where he rallied the survivors. In the face of long odds and withering fire, the paratroopers scaled the dike and captured the north end of the bridge. At dusk, British tanks began to rumble across, in a frantic dash to reach British paratroopers desperately fighting in Arnhem against overwhelming German armor.
After crossing the bridge, the lead tank was disabled by a German 88 mm gun, bringing the column to a halt. Out came the teapots.
The captain commanding the tanks would not proceed without orders from his superiors. Using colorful language, Burriss objected, cocking his tommy gun and putting it to his ally’s head. “I’ve just sacrificed half of my company in the face of dozens of guns, and you won’t move because of one gun.” The tank commander dropped down into his tank and locked the hatch. The tanks were still there 24 hours later, and the surviving British paratroopers at Arnhem were forced to surrender.
Burriss was awarded the Silver Star, three Bronze Stars, Purple Heart, three presidential unit citations, French Fourragere, Belgium Fourragere and Dutch Lanyard.
From 1950 to 1990, he served as president of Burriss Construction Company. Burriss resides in Lexington.

CU-ICAR students unveil Deep Orange 5

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InTheseHills-DeepOrangeStudents at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) unveiled its newest concept vehicle, sponsored by General Motors, at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit.
Deep Orange 5, the fifth generation of Clemson’s concept vehicle program, is designed for young adults who will live in mega cities in 2020. The vehicle was designed by Art Center College of Design students and engineered by Clemson automotive engineering graduate students.
Features of the car include a reconfigurable seating concept, double-hinged doors, a two-piece rear hatch concept and a color display on the outside of the front doors for digital message display.
Janet Goings, associate director of research and development at General Motors, said, “Our experience working with these students was exceptional. They came up with creative and innovative ideas for their defined target consumers. We were very impressed with their holistic approach and final result of this accelerated product development process.”
Watch a 2-minute video showing the building of Deep Orange 5:

Gantt Scholars and donors honored

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In 1963, when Harvey Gantt entered Clemson, he was the first African-American to do so. Twenty-five years later, the Clemson Black Alumni Council (CBAC) established a scholarship to honor him and to recruit and retain African-American students, with special preference to South Carolina residents and entering freshmen.
This spring, donors to the Harvey B. Gantt Scholarship Endowment Fund gathered with the past and present recipients of their generosity to celebrate progress made and lives affected.
[pullquote]“We are better and stronger because of a young African-American man from Charleston who would not give up on his dream of studying architecture here at Clemson,” said President Jim Clements[/pullquote]. He went on to say that Clemson is also a better institution because of the Gantt Scholars. “You are among the best and brightest students in the nation, and we are proud of you and your achievements. Your presence on campus — and your leadership and accomplishments both in and out of the classroom — have made us a better institution.”
Clements went on to thank the CBAC for supporting the scholarship, noting that their “commitment has opened the door for generations of students to attend Clemson.”
View a video of the Gantt Scholars reception:

Students flex fiscal muscles to win national competition

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InTheseHills-Raymond-SauerA proposal by economics students on how to stabilize the nation’s debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio won first place at the national collegiate Fiscal Challenge on Capitol Hill this spring. The Fiscal Challenge is a competition among college teams to create a plan putting the U.S. on a sustainable fiscal path.
“Our team put a tremendous amount of work into developing their budget proposal,” said Raymond “Skip” Sauer, the John E. Walker Department of Economics chair and team adviser. “They’ve been meeting three days a week since January and the collaboration of all five of them gave them the ability to attack the budget challenge on all possible fronts. What they did on Capitol Hill was impressive and very hard to replicate in a classroom.”
Judging was conducted by a group of four federal budget experts associated with major Washington think tanks and government organizations. Mike Aguilar, national coordinator, said the winning proposal “struck a nice balance between spending cuts and tax increases. One thing that set Clemson apart was their advocacy of supply-side changes to stimulate growth and their support for structural reforms to the budget process itself.”