Dr. and Mrs. Robert Long have given a generous six-figure gift to the UNM School of Engineering for two endowed Presidential Scholarships for undergraduate students. These scholarships, available to New Mexico’s best and brightest students, cover 90 to 100 percent of an undergraduate student’s costs. The gift is also being used to create the Long Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Chair endowment. The money will be used by the department chair for current needs.
Photo: Dr. and Mrs. Robert Long
Dr. Long said, “As a former chair of the department, I have great sensitivity to chairs’ financial needs. I hope these funds will loosen the binds that limit this highly influential position.”
“Bob and Ann Long have structured their gift to benefit both individual students and the department as a whole,” said Julia Fulghum, UNM interim vice president for research and economic development and former chair of the ChNE Department. “The ChNE faculty, students and I are all very appreciative not only of their very generous gift, but the time and energy they put into developing a gift the addresses pressing needs in ChNE.”
The Longs also gave an initial non-endowment cash gift until the endowment can grow. The funds were used to renovate the student computer pod, increase travel support for undergraduate student organizations affiliated with the department, and give those student organizations monies to bring in outside experts to speak to students.
“The Longs have done a great service to UNM,” says Pam Hurd-Knief, senior director of development for UNM’s School of Engineering. “The Longs chose to support UNM, a university Dr. Long taught at 30 years ago, where their gifts will help as many faculty and students as possible.”
Long’s successful 32-year career combines industry experience with teaching and service. He joined the faculty at UNM in 1965 and chaired the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering from 1974 to 1978. In 1978 he left UNM to pursue a career with General Public Utilities Nuclear Corporation and retired from a successful career with GPU in 1997.
He now serves as chair of the UNM Reactor Safety Advisory Committee. Long is past president of the American Nuclear Society and is active in the Trinity Section of ANS. He has served on numerous industry advisory committees, including those in the Institute for Nuclear Power, the Electric Power Research Institute, the Nuclear Energy Institute and the Department of Energy.
The Longs hope their family name will encourage people Long has known and taught to contribute to the endowments they have established. “Bob and Ann Long made this gift with great hope that it would spur others – friends, former students and colleagues to join them in supporting tomorrow’s generation of engineers,” Hurd-Knief said.
For more information about how to join the Longs in supporting the UNM Chemical and Nuclear Engineering program, contact Pam Hurd-Knief at the School of Engineering Development Office at (505) 277-2030 or via e-mail at, frognm@unm.edu.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu