The rededication of a gloriously renovated Goddard Hall Oct. 12 topped a list of related Homecoming ceremonies honoring those who have made significant contributions to advancing the mission of New Mexico State University. The ceremonies included naming two rooms in Goddard Hall in honor of donors, announcing a new academic chair in the College of Engineering and naming another engineering building for a former dean.

Goddard Hall, named in 1934 after Ralph W. Goddard, engineering dean from 1921 to 1929, was the first home of the engineering college. Its tower was built in 1913, with single story annexes added in 1919 and 1937. Ralph Goddard’s son Earl Goddard attended the Oct. 12 rededication. An excerpt from his remarks appears on page 2 of this Aggie Panorama.

Funding of more than $5 million for the Goddard Hall renovation came from several sources: the state of New Mexico, the New Mexico Historic Preservation Program, the National Science Foundation, as well as private foundations, alumni and friends of the university.

A conference room on the second floor of Goddard was named for Jerome and Joyce Shaw. Jerome Shaw is the founder and chief executive officer of Volt Services Group, which contributed $200,000 to the Goddard renovation fund. Shaw is a 1948 New Mexico State alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the university in 1998. He and his wife have contributed generously to programs and scholarships at the university for a number of years.

A multi-media room on Goddard Hall’s first floor was named for the Boeing Co., which contributed $400,000 to the renovation. The contribution was made possible by the work of C.G. “Jerry” King, who was president of Boeing’s Defense and Space Group until his retirement in 1998. King received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from New Mexico State in 1958 and an honorary doctor of laws degree from the university in 1994. The Boeing Co. was represented at the ceremony by Peggy Morse, ’81, Boeing’s director of advanced programs.

A $750,000 contribution by PNM and the PNM Foundation toward the endowment of a PNM Professorship/Chair in Utility Management was announced at the engineering college’s ceremonies. The company has among its key employees many New Mexico State graduates.

William H. Kersting, ’59, a longtime faculty member, was named the first PNM Professor in Utility Management. He has been on the faculty of the university’s Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering since 1962. In 1968 he founded the Electric Utility Management Program, which has graduated more than 200 young engineers.

The engineering ceremonies culminated with the naming of Hernandez Hall in honor of former engineering dean and longtime researcher on water issues John W. Hernandez. Hernandez, who holds a doctorate in water resources management from Harvard University, served as engineering dean from 1975 to 1980. During his tenure, enrollment increased from 1,135 in the spring of 1975 to 2,300 in the fall of 1980. He was largely responsible for opening engineering to women and minorities, particularly Hispanics and Native Americans, according to engineering Dean Jay Jordan.