The College of Engineering at NC State Names Outstanding Alumni
November 17, 2005
From Engineering News at NC State

The College of Engineering at North Carolina State University has named the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus award winners for 2005. The recipients are Herbert A. Fishel of Ann Arbor, Mich., Dr. John Turner Whitted of Carnation, Wash., and Robert G. Wright of Raleigh.

The awards will be presented by Dr. Nino A. Masnari, dean of the College of Engineering, at a banquet held November 17 at the Capital City Club in Raleigh. The award honors alumni whose accomplishments further their field and reflect favorably on the university.

Herb A. Fishel

Fishel, a native of Winston-Salem, is CEO of the Business of Motorsports, based in Ann Arbor, Mich. He earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from NC State in 1963.

Recognized repeatedly by Racer magazine as one of the dozen most influential people in racing, Fishel began his career at General Motors and in 1969 joined the Chevrolet Product Performance Group, where he was responsible for the design of high-performance engines. In 1991 he was named Executive Director of GM Racing.

In 2001 under his guidance GM became the first automaker in more than three decades to win racing's Triple Crown in the same year: the Daytona 500, the Indy 500 and the GTS class win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Fishel retired from GM in 2003. During his career, GM won 21 NASCAR driver championships and 25 manufacturers' championships, including 11 consecutive titles from 1981 through 1991. GM-powered racecars won 12 Indy 500s.

His leadership in 1996 helped form the new open wheel series in racing known as the Indy Racing league. In 1997 Hot Rod magazine named Fishel one of the 100 most influential people in hot rodding. He was awarded the Sprit of Le Mans award from the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and drove the pace vehicle in the 2003 Indy 500. In 2005 he was inducted into the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Hall of Fame. Fishel considers his participation in the 2001 Italian Mille Miglia, driving a 1953 Ferrari 250 MM the highlight of his career.

An active alumnus, Fishel presented a seminar on engineering leadership in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in November 2004. He lives in Ann Arbor, Mich., with his wife Sandy Heng, an Emmy-award-winning journalist.

Whitted, a native of Durham, is a senior researcher and area manager at Microsoft Corporation, where he oversees a diverse collection of research groups. He received his bachelor's degree in 1969 and his master's degree in 1970 in electrical engineering from Duke University. He earned his PhD in electrical engineering from NC State in 1978.

Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2003, Whitted is known as one of the pioneers in three-dimensional computer graphics and the originator of the use of ray tracing for global illumination. He began his career as a member of the technical staff in the computer systems research laboratory at Bell Labs. In 1983 he co-founded NDL, a company that provides 3D graphics tools and engines for developers of video games, online 3D applications, and simulation and training applications. He was president of the company until 1996 and continued to serve as a director until NDL's recent merger with Emergent Game Technologies. From 1983 to 2001 he served as an adjunct professor of computer science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a named inventor on eight US patents for Microsoft Corporation.

He is a strong supporter of NC State and an advocate for the departments of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering. An active alumnus, he participates in graduate research seminars and Microsoft recruiting efforts, and he has hosted a visit by College of Engineering administrators to Microsoft Corp. to discuss potential research projects. He lives with his wife, Cathleen, in Carnation, Wash. Their son, Christopher, resides in Carrboro, N.C., and the family frequents their second home in Pittsboro.

Wright, a native of Arlington, Va., is chairman of Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc., a Raleigh-based engineering consulting firm. He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering – construction from NC State in 1968. He earned a master of business administration from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1974. He was a Certified Public Accountant in North Carolina.

Following graduation from NC State, Wright served as a captain in the US Army Corps of Engineers from 1969 to 1972. In 1974 he joined Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Company (now KPMG) as an accountant. In 1979 he joined Kimley-Horn and Associates, serving as controller and vice president of finance. He was named president of the company in 1992. The firm currently has 1,900 employees across the U.S. in 55 offices. The company ranks 37 th among the top 500 design firms and is number 1 and number 2 (based upon fee volume) in retail and multi-unit residential, respectively. In 2004 the firm was named by CE News as number 1 in “Best Engineering Firms to Work For” and in 2005 was named in Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For."

A member of the NC State Engineering Foundation Board of Directors, Wright served as president of the board from 2002 to 2004. As president, he was instrumental in reorganizing and streamlining the board and its committees, restructuring the nomination process and significantly increasing the giving levels of the Dean's Circle and Director's Fund. He was a founding member of the Lampe Society level of the Dean's Circle and is an active member of the Economic Development Coalition 2000, an advocacy group that educates members of the NC General Assembly about the priorities of NC State University. An active supporter of the college and the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, he has served as co-host for student recruitment events and foundation events.

He lives in Raleigh with his wife, Mary Brent. Their son Rob is married to Parker; their son Brent and his wife, Wendy, have a son, McCallum.