Page 14 - CEMS News Winter 2023

GIVING MATTERS
Catalyzing capabilities
Graduate fellowship support to accelerate new M.S. in Data Science.
Robert “Bob” Hermes (PhD ’65) and his wife, Carol, have established the Robert and Carol Hermes Fellowship in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, helping CEMS launch its inaugural M.S. in Data Science program through a gift to support student fellowships for the program’s first three years of student cohorts.
The Hermes Fellowship will provide 15 graduate student fellowships over the course of the program’s first three years. This generous investment will also catalyze a broader data science student support initiative that will also establish strategic collaborations between industry and CEMS students and faculty.
CEMS will welcome the inaugural student cohort to the first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary MS in Data Science for Chemical Engineering and Materials Science in the Fall of 2023. This program, in concert with a departmental investment in data science research and training, builds upon CEMS’ field-shaping research, producing graduates with a fundamental understanding of data science
and domain applications in chemical engineering and materials science in a novel way.
Bob completed his BS in chemical engineering at the University of Texas, Austin and graduated in 1965 with his PhD in chemical engineering, advised by Professor Arnie Fredrickson. Bob spent 35 years of his career with Purvin & Gertz, Inc., an independent, employee- owned and operated international energy consultancy headquartered in Houston, Texas, serving as the firm’s President and later Chairman.
In addition to his ongoing independent oil and gas consulting, Bob served as a Director of Murphy Oil Corporation, an international oil and gas company. In 2006, Bob was named Distinguished Graduate of the University of Texas School of Engineering, and in 2017 was elected to the inaugural cohort of the Academy of Distinguished Chemical Engineers at the University of Texas.
Carol studied medical technology at the University of Minnesota, but then graduated with a BS in medical technology from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Carol and Bob Hermes
She later worked as an independent international travel consultant.
The department wishes to thank Bob and Carol for their leadership and commitment to CEMS. This generous investment is a critical next step in helping CEMS to launch, build, and sustain its data science capabilities by training a sophisticated science and engineering workforce for the 21st century.
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