Fred Vondra, chair of the Department of Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, Trudy Harper, chair of the Board of Trustees, and Gary Durham, former Tech student, are pictured inside the current Tech foundry. Ms. Harper is holding a metal placard Mr. Durham made at the foundry during his years as a Tech student and later gifted to her. Mr. Durham is holding the original mold used to make the placard.
Gary Durham thought his recent trip to Tennessee Tech University would be a simple tour of the campus – an opportunity to see how it had changed since he studied there as an industrial technology major from 1969 to 1971. It turned out to be much more.
Mr. Durham’s tour led to a surprise event alongside family members and Tech leadership where he learned that, thanks to the generosity of a special Soddy Daisy resident, the university’s new foundry would be named in his honor.
Tech is home to one of less than 20 active university foundries in the country. There, students get hands-on experience with metal castings. The current foundry has been in operation since the 1930s and is slated for an all-new home and expanded range of capabilities inside the university’s soon-to-be-built Advanced Construction and Manufacturing Engineering Building.
“Gary, the new foundry at the ACME building will be named for you to honor the courage and passion that you show for your work and to inspire the students who will study there,” said Tech President Phil Oldham in remarks to Mr. Durham and a gathering of family and friends.
The gesture was made possible through a generous gift from native Soddy Daisian Trudy Harper, also the chair of Tech's Board of Trustees, who first met Mr. Durham in the 1990s and was inspired by his story of persevering through a lifetime of visual impairment.
“I grew up with a family member who was completely blind, so I always had a sensitivity for vision impairment,” said Ms. Harper. “Several years ago, when I first came on this Board of Trustees, Gary shared with me about his time at Tech and what the foundry had meant to him. You can hear the passion in his voice.”
While Mr. Durham did not finish his degree at Tech, Ms. Harper said the foundry served as a “launchpad” for his success. She wanted him to know that, regardless of his degree status, his contributions to the university and his persistence in the face of challenges had mattered.
Ms. Harper resolved that her donation would be used to name the new foundry after Mr. Durham, thereby removing any doubt as to the significance of his impact on the campus community.
“He’s as much of a Golden Eagle as anyone because he has a heart for this university,” added Ms. Harper. “It’s so been rewarding planning this surprise. I knew he would be excited.”
Ms. Harper said University Advancement leadership and staff, including Vice President Kevin Braswell, Associate Vice President John Smith and Director Elizabeth Sofia, were immediately receptive to her plan to honor her longtime friend.
“They were all great partners in figuring how we could work together to make this happen,” added Ms. Harper.
Standing alongside his wife, Deedee, Mr. Durham called the honor a “flashback” on his life.
“My life has been touched by Tennessee Tech. I was always proud to come here,” said Mr. Durham. “I’ve never been speechless, but to have an honor of having my name represented like this – it’s incredibly humbling.”
In addition to metal castings, the new Tech foundry will enhance its offerings to provide students with real-world practices in advanced manufacturing and construction, fabrication, machine learning and cyber-physical systems, industrial robotics, mechatronics and concrete and steel manufacturing and testing.
Learn more about the foundry and Tech’s Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Department at: https://www.tntech.edu/engineering/programs/met/index.php.
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