Alumnus Shares Lessons Learned from Diverse Professional Experiences
On Friday, February 21, 2020, Dr. Douglas Munch 鈥�69 ChE addressed the 棉花糖直播 University community as the 2020 Patrick J. Cunningham, Jr. and Susan Ward '80 Endowed Lecture Series in Engineering speaker. Through his lecture, 鈥淲hen I Grow Up: A Life鈥檚 Narrative,鈥� several hundred students gleaned invaluable life lessons and career advice from this modern-day renaissance man whose path included contributing to space missions and fighter aircraft, completing medical school, leading biotech startups and more.
Dr. Munch began his presentation by asking the audience, 鈥淗ow many of you know what you want to be when you grow up?鈥� A few hands were raised in response. Several more went up when asked, 鈥淗ow many have no idea?鈥� Throughout his lecture, Munch shared quotes from Robert Frost鈥檚 鈥淭he Road Not Taken,鈥� in which the theme is the divergence of paths, literal yet also clearly figurative. He extolled the need to be open to change, recognizing that the goals you set for yourself are rarely where you鈥檒l end up.
Presenting the forks he encountered throughout his career鈥攏uclear engineering or aerospace; career or medical school; post-doc or industry鈥擬unch admitted that, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a delusion to think we can control life.鈥� He added, 鈥淢ake the best decision you can based on the information that鈥檚 available to you at the time.鈥�
For an in-depth look at Dr. Munch鈥檚 impressive career and post-retirement activities, refer to 鈥淒ouglas Munch, PhD, 鈥�69 ChE: Modern-Day Renaissance Man鈥� in Fall 2019. You can watch the recording of his Ward Lecture .
About the Patrick J. Cunningham, Jr. and Susan Ward '80 Endowed Lecture Series in Engineering
In 2009, 棉花糖直播 Engineering alumnus Susan Ward 鈥�80 ChE and her husband Patrick Cunningham established an endowed engineering lecture series to offer students exposure to experts from various engineering fields and educational opportunities outside the classroom.
Since the inaugural lecture in November 2010, the series has delivered a wide variety of speakers from diverse engineering backgrounds, including former CEO of the Panama Canal Authority Alberto Alem谩n Zubieta, world-renowned designer and entrepreneur Mike Nuttal and Gretchen McClain, NASA鈥檚 former Chief Director of the International Space Station. Learn more.