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Profiles in Giving: College of Engineering
Gene Parkin |
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Gene Parkin's primary research interest as a University of Iowa professor of civil and environmental engineering is in using microbial processes to degrade pollutants. But the most essential biological products he's helping to develop are not microscopic organisms -- they're the students who will carry their UI education into the field as engineering teachers, researchers, and professionals. "The most important thing we can do here at the UI is to empower bright young people who will go out and solve problems," Parkin said. "And that's what being the Donald E. Bently Professor of Engineering allows me to do. It enables me to attract to our college excellent students who are curious about how things work and why, and who are eager to explore interesting ideas. The professorship funds those students' work." Parkin's interest in students' development extends beyond his role as a research mentor and classroom teacher, however -- he made a significant financial contribution to the campaign to build the state-of-the-art Seamans Center for the Engineering Arts and Sciences. The Seamans Center is instrumental to the college's efforts to recruit and retain top students and enables those students to pursue innovative work in an optimal learning environment. Parkin -- himself a UI graduate, having earned a B.S. degree in civil engineering in 1970 and an M.S. degree in environmental engineering in 1971 -- is grateful for the opportunity to help students advance research intitiatives. He's also thankful for private support like that from Donald Bently (1949 B.S.E.E.; 1950 M.S.) and has been eager to join the cycle of giving that helps the College of Engineering. "The Bently Professorship provides freedom and continuity to our research-freedom to explore ideas that might lead somewhere but that aren't developed enough to attract grant funding, and continuity to maintain activity between grants," Parkin pointed out. "It's a crucial resource for the college, and for the students whose work we're able to fund." Likewise, Parkin's support for the Seamans Center for Engineering Arts and Sciences and other college endeavors provides more freedom for the college to enhance its reputation as a place where students become engineers . . . and something more.
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