Virginia Tech’s Engineering College Publishes Book on Alumni


Blacksburg, VA , July 27, 2009

Virginia Tech's College of Engineering has published In the Land Grant Tradition: Reaching the Pinnacles, a book profiling the lives of the inductees of the first ten years to its Academy of Engineering Excellence.

The Academy was started in 1999 by F. Willliam Stephenson, who was then serving as dean of the college.

“During my years as Dean, I had the distinct privilege of meeting numerous talented engineering graduates whose successes enhanced the reputation of the College and Virginia Tech. Many had emerged from humble beginnings and represented the first generation in their families to secure a college degree,” Stephenson said as the author of the introduction to the book.

“Through sheer talent, determination, and their Land Grant education, many became leaders of some of the largest corporations in the country, and even the world. Others became successful entrepreneurs. Some rose to prominent positions within academia as well as the federal and state governments,” he added.

Stephenson decided the Academy was the way in which the college could give “something tangible” back to these loyal ambassadors of the college. The Academy would “recognize the truly exceptional” among the elite group of engineering alumni.

Since 1999, the Academy has continued to add, on average, 10 new members each year. Richard C. Benson, current dean of the college, decided the tenth anniversary of the creation of the Academy (2009) should be marked by the publishing of the book.

The book is available for sale at the Volume Two Bookstore or online for $13.95 plus shipping and handling.

The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college's 5,700 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a "hands-on, minds-on" approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 1,800 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.

Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering has published In the Land Grant Tradition: Reaching the Pinnacles, a book profiling the lives of the inductees of the first ten years to its Academy of Engineering Excellence.


Lynn Nystrom
(540) 231-4371