Six Armour College of Engineering Alumni Among 2017 Illinois Tech Alumni Awardees
Six Armour College of Engineering Alumni were announced among the winners of the 2017 Illinois Institute of Technology Alumni Awards. Overall twelve Illinois Tech Alumni and one civic leader were named recipients of awards. The tradition of awarding alumni who have shown dedication to the university through service and support or to their field through hard work and outstanding contributions began in 1946.
These awardees will be honored on April 21, 2017 at the Alumni Awards Luncheon and Ceremony in Hermann Hall. Alumni are invited to campus beginning at 10 a.m. to browse the exhibits at the Spring 2017 IPRO Day, where Illinois Tech students will display their work as part of the Interprofessional Projects (IPRO) Program. The luncheon and presentation of awards begins at noon. Tickets to the ceremony are $50 each and can be purchased. The Armour College Alumni being awarded are:
Alumni Medal
Adrian R. Nemcek (EE ‘70)
Adrian Nemcek is an Illinois Institute of Technology trustee and a former member and past chair of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. In 2006 Nemcek retired as executive vice president of Motorola, Inc., having previously served as president of Motorola Networks and CEO of the Global Telecommunications Solutions division. In 2011 he established the Nemcek Family Scholarship and has given generously to many areas of the university. In recognition of his contributions to Illinois Tech, he received the Alumni Service Award in 2014.
Alumni Service Award
Jeffrey A. Karp (CE ’79)
Jeffrey Karp, retired CEO of Power Construction Company, is an Illinois Institute of Technology trustee and a long-time and active member of the Stuart School of Business Board of Advisors. He also has served as a member of the Advisory Board for the Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering department for more than 20 years and is a former member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. He established Illinois Tech’s Jeffrey & Molly Karp Family Scholarship Fund to benefit students from the Chicago metropolitan area majoring in civil engineering.
Collens Merit Award
Arthur W. Hill (CHE ’71)
Determined to earn his Illinois Tech degree no matter how long it took, Arthur Hill worked full time to pay his way through college, earning his bachelor’s degree at the age of 34. He spent many years as a process engineer at CPC International and later found great success in the investment world. Hill has been very generous to Illinois Institute of Technology as one of the lead donors to the Ed Kaplan Family Institute For Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship and a provider of student scholarships.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Robert L. Growney (ME ’74, M.B.A. ’82)
A life trustee for Illinois Institute of Technology until his passing in 2016, Robert Growney was a former chair of the Stuart School of Business Board of Advisors and served on the IBIS Board of Advisors. In thanks for his service to the university, he received the Alumni Service Award in 2007. Growney served as president, COO, and vice chairman of Motorola, Inc. and a partner in Edgewater Funds, a private equity firm with over $1 billion under management. He was also the former director of Alion Science and Technology, an R&D company formerly affiliated with IITRI.
Outstanding Young Alumnus/Alumna Award
Alireza Khaligh (Ph.D. EE ’06)
Alireza Khaligh serves as director of the Maryland Power Electronics Laboratory at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and the Institute for Systems Research at University of Maryland at College Park. His research on modeling, analysis, design, and control of power electronic converters has led him to receive three prestigious best journal paper awards, among other international recognitions. Khaligh has over 150 technical papers and has received numerous honors that are highly unusual for a researcher so early in his career, including serving as an expert for the Energy, Power, Control and Networks (EPCN) program at the National Science Foundation.
Professional Achievement Award
Judson B. Althoff (ME ’95)
Recently named executive vice president for Worldwide Commercial Business at Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, Judson Althoff has become “one of the most powerful sales executives in the world.” Previously he was president of Microsoft North America and held several sales executive positions at Oracle Corporation (ending as a senior vice president) and EMC Corp. Althoff is a member of Illinois Tech’s Computer Science Advisory Board and served as commencement speaker in 2015.
