A L U MNI DUDLEY WHITE
A ND B ARBARA WHITE
SUPPORTING SKILLS THE NATION NEEDS
D
udley White (EE ’76, ’77) and his wife, Barbara (AE ’81),
have long been supporters of the Engineering School.
But when Lockheed Martin purchased Zeta Associates,
the company for which he works, they were in a position
to make a bigger difference — and they did. This fall, the
Whites made a substantial gift that expanded their support
for the Science and Technology Policy Internship Program
in Washington, D.C. They also established the Dudley and
Barbara White Fund for Enhanced Student Experiences to
fund experiential learning in the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering.
Founded in 1984, Zeta Associates focuses on leading-edge
software, communications and ground systems innovations
that helped solve mission-critical challenges for the U.S.
defense and intelligence communities. White joined in
1987. Throughout his career, he has been deeply involved in
solving the complex digital signal processing problems that
the company’s clients faced. “I’ve always enjoyed solving
difficult problems,” White says, “and Zeta has given me
ample opportunity to do so.”
White’s long experience working in Washington brought
him face to face with another problem: the lack of scientific
and engineering expertise among the nation’s policymakers.
“Virtually all the global challenges we face have a technical
component,” he points out. In the Whites’ view, supporting
the 10-week policy internship program — which connects
students with meaningful projects at government agencies,
think tanks and nonprofits — would be a way they could help
bridge this gap. The Whites have created an endowment for
the internship program and are underwriting its cost for the
current academic year.
The Whites’ support for experiential learning in electrical
and computer engineering addresses another problem
Dudley White encountered on the job: the difficulty of
recruiting qualified engineers with practical experience.
It also reflects his own approach to learning. As an
undergraduate, White would collect electronic parts that
local manufacturers discarded and use them to make
circuits or components of various kinds. “I’ve always
been drawn to real hands-on engineering,” he says. “The
department’s effort to revise its curriculum to emphasize
experiential learning was appealing to me.”
In addition to the endowment for experiential learning
courses, the Whites are also supporting the creation of an
undergraduate student lab and a student lounge. “I think
this facility and the new curriculum will boost enrollment in
the major,” White says. “It will also contribute to producing
engineers who can balance their theoretical knowledge with
practical experience.”
U.Va. ENGINEERING UNBOUND
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