A dedicated group of ECE Florida alumni joined current staff and faculty members recently to honor the memory of Bill Wagner, teaching faculty and manager of ECE undergraduate teaching labs from 1985 to 2002. Bill passed away in June of 2019.

The gathering was to acknowledge the creation of an endowed fund, the William A. Wagner Creativity Award, used to provide ongoing material support to ECE students during their Senior Design projects. A plaque commemorating the fund will be displayed in the future location of the Senior Design teaching lab. The plaque is emblazoned with Bill’s unofficial motto, ‘I Have a Ton of Those If You Need Some!’

Attendees included Bill’s daughter, Melody, and her family, as well as three ECE alumni: David Bliss (BSEE ’84, MSEE ’89), Jack Atwater (BSEE ’86, MSEE ’88, MD ’93), and Mark Adler (BA ’81, MSEE ’85). Also in attendance were ECE Associate Chair David Arnold, Professor William Eisenstadt, Associate Instruction Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator Dr. Erin Patrick, Instructional Professor Keith Rambo, teaching lab support engineers Mike Stapleton and Eric Leibner, Senior Director of Development Sarah B. Johnson, and Research Coordinator Marcy Lee.