News
Tennessee Tech board chair surprises longtime friend with naming of new foundry
From left: Fred Vondra, chair of the Department of Manufacturing and Engineering Technology,
Trudy Harper, chair of the Board of Trustees, and Gary Durham, former Tech student,
are pictured inside the current Tech foundry. Harper is holding a metal placard Durham
made at the foundry during his years as a Tech student and later gifted to her. Durham
is holding the original mold used to make the placard.
Gary Durham thought his recent trip to Tennessee Tech University would be a simple
tour of the campus – an opportunity to see how it had changed since he studied there
as an industrial technology major from 1969 to 1971. It turned out to be much more.
Durham’s tour gave way to a surprise event alongside family members and Tech leadership
where he learned that, thanks to the generosity of a special friend, the university’s
new foundry would be named in his honor.
Tech is home to one of fewer than 20 active university foundries in the country. There,
students get hands-on experience with metal castings. The current foundry has been
in operation since the 1930s and is slated for an all-new home and expanded range
of capabilities inside the university’s soon-to-be-built Advanced Construction and
Manufacturing Engineering (ACME) Building.
“Gary, the new foundry at the ACME building will be named for you to honor the courage
and passion that you show for your work and to inspire the students who will study
there,” said Tech President Phil Oldham in remarks to Durham and a gathering of family
and friends.
The gesture was made possible through a generous gift from Tech Board of Trustees
Chair Trudy Harper, who first met Durham in the 1990s and was inspired by his story
of persevering through a lifetime of visual impairment.
“I grew up with a family member who was completely blind, so I always had a sensitivity
for vision impairment,” said Harper. “Several years ago, when I first came on this
Board of Trustees, Gary shared with me about his time at Tech and what the foundry
had meant to him. You can hear the passion in his voice.”
While Durham did not finish his degree at Tech, Harper said the foundry served as
a “launchpad” for his success. She wanted him to know that, regardless of his degree
status, his contributions to the university and his persistence in the face of challenges
had mattered.
From left: Tech President Phil Oldham and former Tech student Gary Durham shake hands following Oldham’s announcement that Tech’s new foundry will be named in Durham’s honor.
Harper resolved that her donation would be used to name the new foundry after Durham,
thereby removing any doubt as to the significance of his impact on the campus community.
“He’s as much of a Golden Eagle as anyone, because he has a heart for this university,”
added Harper. “It’s so been rewarding planning this surprise. I knew he would be excited.”
Harper said University Advancement leadership and staff, including Vice President
Kevin Braswell, Associate Vice President John Smith and Director Elizabeth Sofia,
were immediately receptive to her plan to honor her longtime friend.
“They were all great partners in figuring how we could work together to make this
happen,” added Harper.
Standing alongside his wife, Deedee, Durham called the honor a “flashback” on his
life.
“My life has been touched by Tennessee Tech. I was always proud to come here,” said
Durham. “I’ve never been speechless, but to have an honor of having my name represented
like this – it’s incredibly humbling.”
In addition to metal castings, the new Tech foundry will enhance its offerings to
provide students with real-world practices in advanced manufacturing and construction,
fabrication, machine learning and cyber-physical systems, industrial robotics, mechatronics
and concrete and steel manufacturing and testing.
Learn more about the foundry and Tech’s Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Department
at: https://www.tntech.edu/engineering/programs/met/index.php.
