The energizer

A SEE TODAY

There are those who march to the beat of a different drum. And then there are those who actually drum out the beat, leading the way for those different marchers. Gerald S. Jakubowski, the new president of the American Society for Engineering Education, is one of those drum-beating leaders.

It probably wouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has met the enthusiastic and, yes, upbeat dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, that Jakubowski was drum major of his high school marching band. "Being part of the band and marching with it is great. But when you are in front, leading the band, it's such a magnificent sound and experience," he fondly recalls nearly three-and-a-half decades later.

Jakubowski may not have been destined for the life of the music man, but he has often been cast in the leading role in many organizations. That stems from a strongly held personal philosophy that it's not just enough to show up; you have to get involved, too. "I won't join an organization unless I can at least contribute in some small way," he says. Jakubowski's 25-year-plus involvement with ASEE is a good example, beginning at the section level as a campus representative from the University of Toledo, where he not only taught but also earned his bachelor's, master's, and doctorate in mechanical engineering.

Wally Fowler, last year's ASEE president, points out that "Jerry joined ASEE as a young faculty member and has served ASEE in a large number of local, regional, and national capacities. His impact has been strongly positive at all levels. Jerry knows ASEE from bottom to top and is keenly aware of its problems and opportunities. He will be an excellent president."

Over the years, Jakubowski has also influenced future leaders and built up a wealth of good will within the organization. Ron Barr, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and ASEE vice president of member affairs, a position he took over from Jakubowski, says, "I looked up to Jerry and admired the role he had done as VP during his two years. He served as a good role model for me and other members. And he made a lot of friends. Everybody seems to like him a whole lot."

So what are the new president's priorities for the coming year? Characteristically, Jakubowski presents an ambitious array of topics: increasing membership and improving services of the society, focusing on research initiatives and promoting graduate education, expanding the number of women and minorities, in part through better K-12 education, expanding industry involvement, and branching out to the international arena.

While acknowledging that ASEE can't solve all those problems, Jakubowski says that "if there is something that we can be doing to help, that's what we want to do." To that end, he has already established a task force on women and minorities and is setting up a center for best practices in K-12 science and mathematics education. On the international realm, he recently attended several European engineering education conferences, including the first-ever International Colloquium on Global Changes in Engineering Education, which ASEE co-hosted with the Technical University Berlin in the German capital.

Of course, being ASEE president isn't the only thing on Jakubowski's plate. In addition to his duties as dean at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, a position he's held since 1990, he also teaches mechanical engineering (when time permits), with particular interests in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and energy, and has published more than fifty technical papers and reports in his field. He's also active in other professional organizations, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the Institute for the Advancement of Engineering.

All those commitments leave no free time, right? Wrong. In fact, Jakubowski is something of a renaissance man. One recent evening he pursued three hobbies at once: "I took some zucchini that I grew in my garden and went into the kitchen and made some zucchini bread. And while the bread was baking, I went out to my wood shop and repaired my table saw," the master multi-tasker says. He's an avid cyclist and enjoys hiking in the California hills with his wife. And when asked what his proudest accomplishment is, he beams like a new father and points to a picture of his two grown children.

Jakubowski is also a voracious reader and, as any friend or colleague knows, is a Bugs Bunny fanatic who even considers the floppy-eared character a hero. "I like to think that Bugs represents the humorous side of my personality," he chuckles.

That may be so, but for some, Jakubowski's tireless enthusiasm conjures a certain other energetic--and drum-beating--bunny. You know, the one who goes on, and on, and on....

[Author Affiliation]

David Brindley is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.