5/11/07
Contact:
Robert Grant, (334) 844-4523 (grantrs@auburn.edu),
or
Mike Clardy, (334) 844-9999 (clardch@auburn.edu)
ENDOWED
PROFESSORSHIP HONORS AU BUILDING SCIENCE PROFESSOR ADERHOLDT
AUBURN
- The Auburn University Department of Building Science received $300,000 in contributions
and commitments from more than 550 individuals and companies this spring to create
the Bob Aderholdt Endowed Professorship.
The professorship will be awarded
to an instructor in the department who exhibits the high standard of character
and teaching excellence demonstrated by Aderholdt during his 27 years of service
to Auburn University.
Aderholdt, who had retired from teaching earlier
this year, died May 3 at the age of 65. Current building science faculty, former
students and construction industry executives collaborated on the idea of creating
an endowed professorship in his honor.
“This new professorship is
a testament to Aderholt’s wonderful Auburn legacy,” said Dean Dan Bennett
of the College of Architecture, Design and Construction. “It is a poignant
demonstration of the love and respect so many felt for Bob. The fact that the
professorship was endowed by donations from more than 550 people in a period of
only six weeks shows the very strong support for that legacy by the Building Science
and CADC students, faculty and alumni.”
Aderholdt taught in the
Auburn building construction program for 27 years. Of his many contributions,
he was instrumental in the creation of the Construction Industry Fund which helps
fund construction education at AU through professional fees. Created in 1991,
the fund has helped AU’s building science program maintain its status as
one of the elite in the nation.
Aderholdt was born July 31, 1941, in
Jacksonville, Ala. He received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering
from AU in 1966, and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from AU
in1969. He received his doctorate from the Georgia Institute of Technology in
1973.
He
taught at the University of Florida in the Department of Building Construction
for eight years before returning to Auburn in 1980.
The AU Department
of Building Science is housed within the College of Architecture, Design and Construction.
The components of the CADC are annually regarded and ranked among the best in
their respective disciplines nationally for the quality of education and quality
of students.
(Contributed by Robert Grant.)
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Auburn
University is a top-50 ranked public university that has provided instruction,
research and outreach to benefit the state and nation for more than 150 years.
A more than $4 billion economic impact on the state - including more than $2.4
billion in providing jobs and people resources - demonstrates AU’s commitment
to this mission. AU has more than 214,000 alumni, and provides 130 degree options
to nearly 23,500 graduate and undergraduate students.
may07:AU-aderholdtendow