"The popular teacher, colleague, and friend from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, died May 9 following a three-year struggle with cancer and complications from diabetes," the statement read.

Somerton was born in California and attended the University of California, Los Angeles where he was the president of the graduate student body and sang in the Roger Wagner Master Chorale.

He received three degrees from UCLA: a bachelor’s degree in engineering (1976), a master’s degree (1979) and Ph.D (1982) in heat and mass transfer.

After starting his teaching career at Louisiana State University, he came to MSU in 1986 as a professor in the College of Mechanical Engineering. 

He was an associate professor and served as associate chair for undergraduate studies in the department for more than a decade, winning the MSU Withrow Award for Teaching several times. 

Not only was he an avid researcher, he focused on the advancement of engineering education and wrote more than 50 scholarly publications in engineering education.

“Craig Somerton helped transform the lives of Spartan Engineers as a teacher and well beyond the classroom,” Dean of the College of Engineering Leo Kempel wrote in a statement.

“He was a leader in curriculum development and a proud proponent of engineering education and program evaluation. He was a favorite consultant to universities on accreditation issues because his commitment was so true. We will miss him and his many contributions both personally and professionally.”