Several NPRE alumni, many of whom have worked at Sandia or Los Alamos National Laboratories, gathered Sunday, Nov. 2, for the Department's hosting of a reception in Santa Fe, NM, and the showing of a video, "A Word from Roy Axford."
Axford, who will celebrate 50 years as an NPRE faculty member in 2016, presented "A History of Nuclear Engineering Education." The first person in the United States to earn a doctorate in nuclear engineering, Axford experienced first hand how nuclear engineering education evolved in this country. His journey from earning his degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and helping to design MIT's nuclear reactor, to his faculty positions at Texas A&M, Northwestern University and the University of Illinois, are relayed with great detail and precision in the video.
The reception was held to honor Axford, and to generate interest in NPRE's Roy A. Axford Fund, used to provide student scholarships and possibly fellowships in the future.