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May 10 event celebrates renaming of department to honor Gerald May

April 6, 2023 - by Kim Delker

The School of Engineering is hosting an event May 10 to celebrate the renaming of the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering in honor of Gerald May, a former professor, dean and University of New Mexico president.

Thanks to the generosity of donor and alumnus Doug Campbell, the department will be renamed the Gerald May Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering.

It is the first endowed department at The University of New Mexico and will continue to generate funds that will benefit students for decades to come.

The ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. in the Centennial Engineering Center Stamm Commons. Those interested in attending the event can RSVP to engineeringevents@unm.edu. The event will feature remarks from UNM President Garnett Stokes; Donna Riley, Jim and Ellen King Dean of Engineering and Computing; and Mahmoud Taha, distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering.

Campbell, an Albuquerque native, earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from UNM. Campbell had a stint in an engineering job and even as a professional mountain biker, but found his greatest success in the business world, especially as CEO of Solid Power. He credits a professor he had, Gerald May, with helping him on his path to success. Naming the department in his honor is a permanent way to honor May for the impact he had on Campbell and countless students over the years.

May joined the civil engineering faculty at UNM in 1967 and served as dean of the School of Engineering from 1980-86, then as 14th president of The University of New Mexico from 1986-90.

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