Dec. 12, 2022
150 Years of Mizzou Engineering: 2020 – Today
Our celebration of the 150th anniversary of Mizzou Engineering’s incorporation wraps up this month with a recap of recent years and a sneak peek of what’s ahead.
Nov. 15, 2022
150 Years of Mizzou Engineering: 2000-2020
Our series exploring the history of Mizzou Engineering continues this month in the year 2000. As a new century dawned, the College experienced tremendous growth and expansion. Dean Jim Thompson worked to increase enrollment, creating a recruiting office and implementing statewide programs that promoted engineering opportunities to high school students and parents. Jim Thompson Thompson also focused on international collaborations, instituting a 2+2 Coordinated Undergraduate Degree Program that allowed international students to study two years at their home institutions before transferring to Mizzou to complete their degrees. And the College entered into memorandums of understanding with university partners around the…
Oct. 7, 2022
150 Years of Mizzou Engineering: 1990-1999
The history of Mizzou Engineering approaches the turn of the century with a new building, a new dean and new academic departments.
Sep. 30, 2022
150 Years of Leadership: Joe Hoffmann
Call it fate, happenstance, coincidence or destiny, Joe Hoffmann, BS ME ’13, knows he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be. As General Manager at Hoffmann Brothers in St. Louis, he oversees operations of five divisions: residential and commercial heating and cooling, plumbing, electrical and appliance. Since he started in 2016, he’s helped grow company revenue from $10 million to $80 million. That’s a 30% increase year-over-year. “Every year as we’re budgeting, we say ‘There’s no way we can do it again,’” said Hoffmann, the youngest son of founder Robert Hoffmann. “But we build a budget from the ground up,…
Sep. 14, 2022
150 Years of Leadership: Steve Pelch
Many successful companies in today’s economy depend not only on outstanding service and best-in-class technology, but also rely upon creativity, unique business models and go-to market strategies, pervasive marketing outreach, authenticity or a global perspective that embraces aspects of both science and art. Steve Pelch, BS ME ’87, understands this. That’s why billion-dollar companies hire him to help them navigate ever-evolving industries. Pelch is owner of SJP Value Creation, a boutique advisory firm where he assists CEOs and C-suite executives on strategy, leadership, talent management, operations and acquisitions. His clients range from a $15 million privately held specialty chemical…
Sep. 12, 2022
150 Years of Mizzou Engineering: 1980-1989
Missouri Shamrock image of Jonathan Coker adjusting the satellite dish for an IEEE event in 1984. It was the first national video teleconference to be downloaded on campus. Our look back at Mizzou Engineering through the decades continues in 1980. After more than a decade of making a case for funding, Dean William Kimel has successfully raised the nearly $2 million needed for a new civil engineering wing. The project, completed in 1982, expanded space for labs, classrooms and offices and added a new lounge for students. In the early 80s, the College made more investments in technology, as well,…
Aug. 10, 2022
150 Years of Mizzou Engineering: 1968-1979
Students work in a graphics engineering class in the 1970s. Our series exploring the history of Mizzou Engineering continues in the year 1968, when William Kimel begins what would become a 17-year tenure as Dean of the College. Kimel became known for his collaborative style and had a keen interest in developing bioengineering studies in partnership with the School of Medicine. Bioengineering courses and research activities would be primarily under electrical engineering in the 1970s until the subject became a formal program in 1980. William Kimel Perhaps the biggest impact on the future of Mizzou Engineering was Kimel’s foresight. He…
July 13, 2022
150 Years of Mizzou Engineering: 1946-1967
Huber O. Croft served as Dean for 13 years, during which time he oversaw construction, the creation of the Missouri Honor Awards and suggested a nuclear research reactor be built on campus. Our look back at Mizzou Engineering’s history continues this month during the 1946-47 school year. When we left off, Dean Harry Curtis was juggling an unusually large student body and a shortage of faculty and supplies. Enrollment exceeded 1,200 in the fall of that year, forcing the College to hold courses in the early morning hours into the evening. In 1948, enrollment peaked at 1,500 students, many of…
July 12, 2022
150 Years of Leadership: Wade Foster
Wade Foster, IE '09, MBA '10, is co-founder and CEO of Zapier, a global company that connects thousands of applications.
June 15, 2022
150 Years of Leadership: Michael Melton
Michael Melton, Esquire, is often asked whether he ever uses his bachelor’s degree in engineering. After all, he’s had an extraordinary career as a businessman, having started his own company after working for years as a patent attorney. Melton (BS EE ’81, JD ’84) is Founder and President of MEM Enterprises Group which owns, operates and manages Taco Bell and Five Guys Burgers restaurants and commercial real estate. The portfolio of Taco Bell restaurants is the largest owned by an exclusively African American group. The Five Guys portfolio includes the two highest-grossing locations in the United States. Before that,…