A.R. "Buck" Knight Award

Established 1989

A.R. "Buck" Knight
Caption

A.R. "Buck" Knight

Abner Richard "Buck" Knight graduated from Ohio State University in 1909. In the period of 1909-1911 he served as a construction engineer and electrical engineer for the Springfield (Ohio) Light Heat and Power Company. From 1911-1913 he was an Instructor in Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1913 he joined the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Illinois as an Instructor. While teaching at the University he received an M.S. degree in 1917 and a professional E.E. degree in 1922.

Professor Knight's main teaching interests were in the field of electric circuits. He was coauthor of a text entitled "Introduction to Circuit Analysis" and was author of numerous articles in the field of power measurement. He retired after 41 years on the staff in September 1954 with the rank of Professor.

Professor Knight passed away Nov. 9, 1957.

Description:

The A.R. "Buck" Knight Award has been established by Miss Betty Ann Knight to honor the memory of her father, Prof. A. R. "Buck" Knight, who was a member of the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering from 1913 to 1954. Professor Knight was well known for his numerous contributions to campus and community affairs and for his concern for students. The award is given to a senior in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering who has demonstrated good scholarship and leadership in student activities that extend outside the College of Engineering.

Requirements:

  1. Must be a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, enrolled in the Department of Electrical Engineering, and within one year of graduation at the time the award is made.
  2. Must have demonstrated good scholarship through the junior year and have a grade point average in the top one half of his class.
  3. Must have participated in campus student activities demonstrating leadership in one or more campus activities either as a designated officer or in some other recognizable manner.
  4. Must have participated in activities outside of the College of Engineering such as music, athletics, student government, etc.

Selection Process:

Applications for the award may be submitted online beginning in January of each year. A faculty committee will interview the finalists and make the final decision on the award recipient.

Award:

The recipient(s) will be recognized during an annual Student Awards Banquet. All student recipients are featured on the second floor of the ECE Building's Student Honors Wall.

Past Recipients of the Award

Year Recipients
2022-2023 Hanwen Liu
2020-2021 Pooja Kankani
2019-2020 Sundi Xiao, Yuji Chai
2018-2019 Mike Bartmess, Simran Patil
2017-2018 Ryan Grady, Josh Perozek
2016-2017 Bryan Carrol, Molly Pace
2015-2016 Bodecker DellaMaria
2014-2015 Tej Chajed, Liana Nicklaus
2013-2014 Tiantian Tang, Gino Rooney
2012-2013 Se-Joon Chung, Zheming Zheng
2011-2012 Chun Ming Chin
2010-2011 Chun Ming Chin
2009-2010 Vikram Chaudhery, David Rockwood
2008-2009 Elaine Wah
2007-2008 Thomas Hughes, Safi Sandila
2006-2007 Tonia Shen
2005-2006 Ritesh Parekh
2004-2005 Nicholas McDonnell
2003-2004 Akshay Naheta
2002-2003 John M. Hebda
2001-2002 Brad Griffis
2000-2001 Samantha Sutton
1999-2000 Elise Sivilay
1998-1999 Erica Messinger
1997-1998 Brian S. Johnson
1996-1997 Mark C. Hersam
1995-1996 Prabal Chakrabarti
1994-1995 Andrew D. Skale
1993-1994 Paula H. Alban
1992-1993 Darren F. Bronson
1991-1992 Amanda J. Watson
1990-1991 Clark A. Miller
1989-1990 Thomas F. Nolan
1988-1989 James P. Stapleton
1987-1988 Neil S. Hirshman
1986-1987 Tim W. Dittmer
1985-1986 David A. Shafer
1984-1985 Laurie A. Watters
1983-1984 Jon C. Schmidt
1982-1983 Todd Z. Kopecky
1981-1982 David W. Archer
1980-1981 Alberto M. Segre