“Because of him I was given the encouragement to succeed,” Amy Lenz, professor at Grand Valley State University, said about Craig Somerton during his memorial service Sunday afternoon.
“I owe it to him, I wouldn’t be where I am now if it weren’t for him.”
Craig Somerton served the MSU College of Engineering for 30 years “as a popular teacher, colleague, and friend in the Department of Mechanical Engineering,” according to an MSU statement.
Though his first memorial was held in Las Vegas in July, the family wanted to hold one after the fall semester started for the MSU community at River Terrace Church.
Somerton died May 9 after a three year struggle with cancer and complications from diabetes, but for the students and faculty he touched during his tenure, his legacy lives on.
“There was something different about Dr. S,” Adam Zemke, the state Rep. for Ann Arbor, said. He added Somerton was paramount to how much he enjoyed his time at MSU. Zemke was on the executive board of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers at MSU while Somerton was an advisor.
One of Somerton’s former students, Laura Genik, with whom he maintained a close relationship even after she graduated, spoke at the memorial, reminiscing on weekly dinners and lamenting how his booming voice no longer “echoes down the corridors” of the College of Engineering.
She described how a “professor became a mentor, a mentor became a friend and a friend became part of my family.”
“Take advantage of all the insignificant moments that will change your life forever,” Genik said, remembering pieces of advice he would give.
Somerton’s sister, Diana, told former and current students “you are his legacy.”
“Engineers exist to help society and society’s people,” Somerton wrote, read aloud by Diana.
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 Department 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 said in a statement.
“He was a leader in curriculum development and a proud proponent of engineering education and program evaluation,” Kempel said.
“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.”
