As Seen in Arkansas Money & Politics
April 30, 2025
New members were inducted into the University of Arkansas College of Engineering Hall of Fame on April 11 and college graduates recognized with Distinguished Alumni and Early Career Alumni Awards.
The two new inductees to the Hall of Fame were John English (B.S.E.E. ’81, M.S.O.R. ’82), former dean of the college and retired professor of industrial engineering, and Jeffery Sanders (B.S.E.E. ’69), founder and president of UHU Technologies.
English was dean of the college and Irma F. and Raymond F. Giffels Endowed Chair in Engineering 2013-2020, during which time the college saw significant enrollment growth and set records for its research enterprise. Prior to that, he served as department head of industrial engineering from 2000 to 2007 after joining the department as an assistant professor in 1991. He was also dean of engineering at Kansas State University from 2007 to 2013.
Sanders has worked in signal intelligence since graduating from the University of Arkansas. In 1992, he founded Eclipse Electronic Systems, which grew over 18 years to 145 employees and $45 million in annual revenue. After selling that business, he became interested in GPS navigation challenges and founded UHU Technologies, which develops precision navigation technologies for retail and U.S. Department of Defense needs.
Nine graduates were honored with Distinguished Alumni Awards:
- Daniel C. Apon, B.S.B.A. 2008, M.S.C.S.E. 2011 (MITRE)
- Timothy Ferguson, B.S.M.E. 1998 (Kratos Defense)
- Bradley Gentry, B.S.E.E. 1988, M.S.E.E. 2000 (Gentry Professional Services)
- Patrick Schueck, B.S.C.E. 1997 (Lexicon)
- Becky Womack Keogh, B.S.Ch.E. 1979 (Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration)
- Brett Peters, B.S.I.E. 1987 (University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee)
- Matt Stone, M.S.O.M. 2006 (Arkansas State Senate)
- Christopher Wright, B.S. CompSystems, E. 1999 (Sullivan Wright Technologies)
- Rodney Wright, B.S.Ag.E. 1982, M.S.Ag.E. 1984 (Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Another 10 graduates received Early Career Alumni Awards:
- Jordan Baumberger, B.S.M.E. 2009, M.S.O.M. 2024
- Eric C. Boles, B.S.B.E. 2010, M.S.B.E. 2014
- Andrew Dominick III, B.S.Ch.E. 2015
- Jonathan Kerby, B.S.C.E. 2013
- Will Mangrum, B.S.I.E. 2010
- Michaela W. (Mertz) McCrary, B.S.Bm.E. 2015
- Blake Puryear, B.S.C.S. 2012
- Brian Russell, B.S.Cmp.E. 2010
- Daniel Schwartz, B.S.E.E. 2016, M.S.E.E. 2018
- Corey S. Thompson, B.S.M.E. 2008, M.S.M.E. 2011, Ph.D. 2014
