Dear Woodruff School Faculty, Staff, Alumni, and Friends:
The time has come for us to send off our colleague, mentor and friend, Dr. Samuel Graham, Jr., as he prepares for the next chapter in his distinguished career as the dean of the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering. Sam has spent 24 years in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering as a graduate student, professor, associate chair and, most recently, as our chair, and his deep commitment and desire to elevate the School can be seen and felt across our community in many ways.
During Sam’s tenure, the Woodruff School has consistently ranked as one of the top five mechanical engineering programs in the U.S. at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Additionally, under his leadership, the School has steadily increased the percentage of women and underrepresented minority students, shattered research funding records, hired several outstanding new faculty members, and invested in significant capital improvements.
In honor of all that Sam has done for the Woodruff School, we are excited to announce that we have created the Samuel Graham, Jr. Fellowship Endowment. This endowment will support first generation graduate students in the Woodruff School. This is an area that is very personal to Sam because he was a first-generation graduate student in his family, so he has first-hand experience regarding many of the challenges these students face. Several years ago Sam was inspired to create a first-generation fund for our ME graduate students and our goal is to increase the resources to support current and future generations of students.
Here are a few messages from our alumni, faculty and staff relating to Sam’s impact:
Raheem Beyah
Dean and Southern Company Chair
Georgia Tech College of Engineering
I congratulate Sam on this wonderful opportunity to lead Maryland’s school of engineering. I also thank him for the many ways he has positively impacted the lives and futures of Georgia Tech students for the past two decades, while being a great leader for our faculty and staff. Maryland is gaining someone with a rare combination of deep technical acumen with a people-focused, compassionate and decisive leadership style.
David McDowell
Regents’ Professor
Carter N. Paden Jr. Distinguished Chair
George. W Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
I have had the distinct honor of working with Sam Graham for well over 25 years in several unique ways. First, I served as his MS (1995) and PhD (1999) advisor. Sam’s intellectual flexibility and quickness were apparent to me, given that his MS thesis concerned finite deformation behavior of metals, while his PhD switched directions completely to address thermal conductivity of ceramic composites, addressing both theory and advanced experiments. This latter direction was largely by his own initiative, and he became a leading expert in flash diffusivity using ORNL facilities and ceramic composites processing at UTRC. I could see even then his high potential for a faculty position, given his technical acuity, humility, pleasant way of interacting with people and on teams, communication skills, and his drive for achievement. I continued to stay in touch with Sam during his days at Sandia after earning his PhD, and was pleased upon his return to Georgia Tech as a faculty member. It has been one of the great pleasures of my career to enjoy his noteworthy progression through all professorial ranks here at Tech, and to be a part of cultivating his leadership through his engagement with the Institute for Materials nearly a decade ago. It is no surprise to me that he will go down as one of the outstanding leaders in the long history of the Woodruff School. Sam will be sorely missed, but I give he and his family my best wishes for future success in the next phase of their journey.
Shweta Natarajan
Director, Enterprise Strategy
Caterpillar
Former Graduate Student
I have known Sam for over a decade, and I can confidently say there is no-one who has inspired me more. Sam is an extraordinary educator, researcher, leader and visionary. As my graduate advisor, Sam taught me to be intellectually curious and to solve problems in creative and unconventional ways. This skill has been instrumental in my professional life, and I owe many of my subsequent successes to Sam's mentorship. As an educator, Sam is compassionate and deeply committed to the success of his students. As the chair of the Woodruff School, Sam has led the school to become one of the top ranked mechanical engineering institutions in the US and the world, and he leaves behind an incredible legacy. The University of Maryland is extremely lucky to have Sam at its helm, and I cannot wait to cheer on the amazing things Sam is sure to do in this next chapter of his career.
Regina Neequaye
Administrative Supervisor
George. W Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Graham has demonstrated his commitment to the Woodruff School many times over the years, but in my experience nothing has been more important to him than the well-being of the students. I have seen him personally go out of his way to make sure an international student got moved out of a questionable housing situation and into something more appropriate. When he hears of students in need he takes action, and that’s why I’m excited to see that we are launching a scholarship to help some of our most vulnerable students.
As a community, we are grateful for Sam’s astute leadership, thankful that he has been a champion for diversity, and appreciate his genuine dedication to creating a culture of fun, excellence, respect and openness. We are sure many of you have wonderful stories of how Sam has positively influenced you and how he has influenced the Woodruff School and the people in it. We encourage you to share your favorite memories of Sam, upload photos or post a farewell message by visiting our Kudo Board.
You are also welcome to make a gift towards the funding of this wonderful new fellowship. We hope you are as excited about this opportunity to contribute to Sam’s legacy as we are. Please see the instructions below to make a contribution.
How To Make A Gift:
Online
To make an online gift, please visit Sam’s personalized giving page and enter your information.
Check
Please make your check out to the Georgia Tech Foundation, Inc. (EIN 58-6043294) and mail to 760 Spring Street NW., Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30308 or Campus Mail Code 0182. In the memo section please fill in “Samuel Graham, Jr. Fellowship Endowment”
Crypto Currency
Georgia Tech now accepts crypto currency. Please visit our secure page to make your gift. In the Donation Description section please fill in “Samuel Graham, Jr. Fellowship Endowment”
Thank you for considering honoring Sam in this meaningful way. We all know how much Sam loves the Woodruff School and we know he’ll continue to be a champion for us wherever he goes…he’s a Yellow Jacket for life! If you are planning to make a contribution to this fund we encourage you to do so by (October 10th). Please don’t mention this fundraising campaign to Sam as we plan to announce his endowment at his farewell celebration on Friday. If you have questions about making your gift please contact Tamika Barnes, Director of Development, at tamika.barnes@me.gatech.edu or 470-501-7026.
Go Jackets!
Best,
Tamika Barnes
Melody Foster
Dave McDowell