The late Dr. Cecil O. Cogburn has made a $369,000 gift through his estate to the Arkansas Tech University Foundation in support of the nuclear engineering program at Arkansas Tech.
Cogburn, who passed away in 2013, taught engineering at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville from 1947-89. Several of Cogburn’s former students, including Stan Apple, Dr. John Krohn and Roy Culp, have served on the mechanical engineering faculty at Arkansas Tech.
In all, Cogburn and his estate have donated almost $900,000 in support of the engineering program at Arkansas Tech.
“The legacy of a teacher is best reflected in the achievements of his or her students,” said Dr. Robin E. Bowen, Arkansas Tech president. “Dr. Cogburn has an impressive and meaningful legacy. Students at Arkansas Tech continue to benefit on a daily basis from the wisdom that he imparted and the generosity that he displayed.”
Among Cogburn’s most lasting contributions to higher education in Arkansas was his introduction of nuclear engineering courses at the University of Arkansas in the mid-1960s.
Decades later, he ensured that future generations would have an opportunity to further that field of study when his financial gifts helped Arkansas Tech develop a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering.
In 2011, the addition to Corley Hall on the Arkansas Tech campus in Russellville was named in honor of Cogburn in recognition of his financial gifts to the university and his lifelong commitment to higher education.
“We express our appreciation to the late Dr. Cogburn for his support of Arkansas Tech and our educational mission,” said Mike Hutchison, vice president for advancement at Arkansas Tech. “These funds and the opportunities they will provide will allow our faculty and students to further enhance Arkansas Tech’s reputation for excellence in engineering.”
For more information about the study of engineering at Arkansas Tech, visit www.atu.edu/engineering.
Photographed: The Corley Hall addition completed in 2011 at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville is named in honor of Dr. Cecil O. Cogburn.
