When you join the ranks of your mentors and heroes, you’ve reached a major milestone. Dr. Charles L. “Chuck” Karr, president of The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), felt the significance of that moment when he was named to the 2025 class of the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame (AEHOF). UAH is a part of The University of Alabama System.
“I was amazed. I was flattered. I was humbled,” Karr said. “I had an opportunity to be involved with the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame for almost 20 years. I was on the board of directors, so I’ve seen the caliber of people who have been inducted. It’s really a huge honor – and one I’m fairly certain I don’t deserve – but it was very humbling.”
Karr plus seven other individuals and one corporation were inducted into the Hall of Fame during a celebration banquet on Feb. 22 at Ross Bridge in Birmingham. They joined the 229 persons, 35 corporations/institutions and 46 engineering projects that have been honored since the Hall of Fame was created in 1987.
“Having been in Alabama for 40 years, there are many people on the list I know,” he said. “When I go through it, I see remarkable people that I would consider to be mentors, if not heroes.”
The Hall of Fame cites Karr for his “outstanding legacy in the field of engineering in the State of Alabama through education, research and leadership.”
A native of Gulf Breeze, Fla., Karr began that legacy at The University of Alabama (UA), earning his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 1984 and his master’s and doctorate in engineering mechanics in 1986 and 1989. From 1988-1995, he worked as a research engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Tuscaloosa Research Center, leading efforts in using fuzzy logic and artificial intelligence to improve and optimize the performance of mineral beneficiation equipment. He also taught part time at UA.
He returned to UA full time in 1995 as an assistant professor and rose through the ranks to become a full professor in 2002. He served as head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics from 2001-2004 and was appointed dean of the College of Engineering in 2005. He is considered a leading expert in the area of intelligent systems, having published three books and 44 journal articles. He also holds several patents.
Just a few of the awards Karr has received throughout his career indicate the scope of his work:
- 1990 – Engineer of the Year, U.S. Bureau of Mines, Tuscaloosa Research Center
- 1991 – Young Scientist of the Year, Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration’s Industrial Minerals Division
- 1993 – Outstanding Young Engineer Award, Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration’s Mineral and Metallurgical Processing Division
- 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 – Charles Henry Ratcliff Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Engineering Mechanics Teaching
- 2005 – T. Morris Hackney Faculty Leadership Award, UA College of Engineering
Karr oversaw growth in student achievement, programs, faculty and facilities during his tenure at UA, and he brought that experience and mindset to UAH in December 2021.
For Karr, the most important component in any equation is human.
“A career really is about the people you’ve interacted with. It’s a matter of trying to consistently do the right thing and having a positive impact on people. If you're going to have a positive effect, you need to genuinely care about them. I don’t see how you can be in a leadership position if you don’t care about people.”
Caring is Karr’s first key to success. Second is a passion for your work, a message he shares freely with students.
“I tell young people all the time, I understand you’ve got to make a certain amount of money. But if you work only for money, and I work for passion, when you’re crying to stop, I’ll be crying to keep going. If you’re not passionate about what you do, then find something else.
“I wouldn’t be at UAH if I didn’t have a passion for what we do here. We’ve got great research and academic programs. But at the end of the day, it’s about the remarkable faculty, the outstanding staff and the tremendous young people who make up UAH.”