Don Gillott

College of Engineering

Began in 1968
Retired in 1993

I welcome the opportunity to share my experiences as a member of the Sacramento State University family, serving as Chair of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering for nine years from 1968 to 1976. From 1976 until I retired from the University in 1993, I served as Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences. I came to Sacramento in 1968 from the University of Pittsburgh where I served as an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering. Although I had obtained tenure at the University of Pittsburgh, I accepted an invitation to interview for the position of Department Chair at Sacramento. At the time, my responsibilities at Pitt included serving as administrator of the EE graduate program, which involved both the Master of Science and PhD. programs. I accepted the department chair position in Sacramento, because all my degrees, BS, MS and PhD were from Pitt. My move was a gamble because the EE program at Sacramento was very smal,l with only two faculty, and had just been denied accreditation from ABET, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. The move, however, turned out to be very successful, because I had complete support from the Dean, Dr. Howard Hartman, and President, Dr. Robert Johns. Immediately, I began to recruit outstanding faculty from major Universities across the United States. Also, I was fortunate to establish excellent relations with the business and technical communities. The influx of private funds and major equipment gifts created the proper environment to speed up the development of the department.

In 1976, Dean Hartman accepted the position of Engineering Dean at Vanderbilt University. Although I was very content in my position of Department Chair, pressure from my Colleagues from the other Departments, and the supporting Business Community, convinced me to become a candidate for the open Dean's position. I was appointed Dean in 1976 and served in that capacity until my retirement in 1993. It was the most satisfying experience with unbelievable support from faculty and students. Because of the wonderful support I received from the City of Sacramento, The State of California, and the national community, I decided to go out on a limb and agree to raise five million dollars of private funds if the Legislature would advance the date of construction of a new Engineering and Computer Science facility. They agreed to the arrangement and the fund raising program began. With the total support of Vice President Robert Jones and with the loan of a fundraising consultant from Ketchen and Associates, Dr. Donald Woodrow, our fundraising program was on its way. I continued to raise significant funds from the private sector even after the new facility was completed in the mid 1980's. In fact, the support from the private sector matched or exceeded the state support.

My experience as Dean was the most satisfying that anyone could hope for. Although I am now 80 years of age, I am in excellent health and could easily handle the responsibilities of the position. However, in 1993, while participating in a University wide budget meeting, it was suggested that my state support budget be cut because of the support I was receiving from the private sector. Because I knew that any cut in state support would most definitely negatively impact my ability to receive private support, I chose to retire from my position and from the University. Although I am no longer officially employed by the University, I am very loyal to the institution and serve on the Engineering and Computer Sciences, Deans Advisory Committee, and work closely with and totally support the current Dean, Dr. Emir Macari. I resigned from the President's advisory Committee because of outside commitments, but President Alexander Gonzalez knows he has my complete support.

After retiring from the University, I was approached by the Board of Trustees of Christian Brothers Secondary School and invited to serve as its first President. The School was going through a reorganization and, by serving as its first President, I would assist the school's reorganization. I agreed to a one year appointment, but remained as the school's president for three years. I assisted in the appointment of President Lorcan Barnes, Christian Brothers current president and continue to serve on his Advisory Committee.

From this summary, it should be apparent that I have remained very active in the professional lives of Sacramento State University and of Christian Brothers Secondary School. I love my involvement in two institutions which have played such major roles in my professional life and I am very impressed with the quality of leadership at both institutions.

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