HUNTSVILLE — The University of Alabama-Huntsville received a $1 million pledge to create the Dr. Ashok K. Singhal Endowed Chair at UAH’s College of Engineering. The gift from Singhal’s widow, Sangeeta, is the first endowment chair for the college of engineering.
Singhal was a pioneer in computational fluid dynamics and founder of Huntsville’s CFD Research Corp. His son AJ and daughter Neena made the announcement during the ribbon-cutting and dedication of the Dr. Ashok K. Singhal Laboratory at CFD Research in Cummings Research Park Wednesday.
“UAH has always played a special role in my dad’s life and he even worked there part time when he first started CFD, to help pay the bills,” said AJ . “He later served the university in other capacities including as a board member and an advisor.”
UAH President Dr. Chuck Karr said Singhal’s dedication to his work reflected his passion for science, innovation and technology.
“He was an ardent supporter of the University of Alabama Huntsville, and we benefited greatly from that support,” Karr said.
He was referring, in part, to the Singhal Scholarship the family endowed to UAH in 2008. It continues to support undergraduate engineering students.
“This endowment chair is frankly overwhelming,” Karr said. “For them, to endow the Singhal Chair in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering will have a huge impact for the longest period of time.
“This chair honors Dr. Singhal’s leadership and his philanthropic spirit.”
Dr. Shankar Mahalingam, UAH dean of engineering, said an endowed chair is the highest position any faculty member ever aspires to.
“It represents a legacy of excellence, a legacy of passion, and a legacy of caring,” said Mahalingam. “The endowment is a transformational gift for the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UAH.”
Mahalingam described Singhal as a visionary who led by example.
“Ashok created some of the earliest computer algorithms in the field of computational fluid dynamics and the software he created really serves as pillars of the entire physics-based computational engineering industry across the world,” he said. “Ashok was creative in his thinking, he had a remarkable eye for talent, and was the biggest cheerleader for his employees looking out for their professional success and personal growth.”
The gift and the endowment are pending the expected approval by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees.
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