The Robert O. Pettus Electrical Engineering Endowed Scholarship
Dr. Robert Pettus, who joined the electrical engineering faculty in 1972, educated many electrical and computer engineering students before retiring in 2010. Many engineers and computer scientists studied under him and benefitted from his knowledge and mentorship during their time at USC and beyond.
To honor him, five generous donors – Mark Campbell ’83, Lisa Campbell ’83, Scot Wingo ’90, Chris King ’93, Michael Sechrest ’94 – worked with department chair Roger Dougal to create The Robert O. Pettus Electrical Engineering Endowed Scholarship Fund.
"This is a fitting way to honor a man who helped so many others, " said Chris King. "We wanted to make sure his name would be remembered at USC for years to come."
King is just one student who credits part of his career success to the guidance of Dr. Pettus.
"During my time in graduate school, I became very interested in real-time 3D computer graphics. This was not one of Dr. Pettus's areas of expertise, but he did everything he could to encourage me including working with other professors to build a visualization lab equipped with several hundred-thousand dollars worth of graphics workstations. As a result, I practically lived at Swearingen Engineering Center. I was like a kid in a candy store. It was during this time that I developed the fundamental skills I needed to later launch my company. It would not have happened without Dr. Pettus's kind support."
The goal of the fund is to award a four-year scholarship every year to a deserving student. To do this, the fund must exceed $100,000. Thanks to these generous founding donors we’re already half-way there. Now we’re offering you a chance to show your appreciation for Dr. Pettus, or at least to offer your support to a deserving electrical engineering student, by contributing now to the endowment goal of $100,000.
We are grateful for any amount you decide to give, and keep in mind that you can make a gift in pledge payments over time as well.
College of Engineering and Computing Office of Development
development@cec.sc.edu