POTSDAM -- A generous gift from a Clarkson University alumni couple has enabled the university to create an endowed professorship in physics.

The Karel K. Czanderna '77 and W. Dan Shirkey '80 Professorship, funded by Karel K. Czanderna and W. Dan Shirkey of Perrysburg, Ohio, will help ensure excellence in research, student advising, teaching, and service within the Department of Physics at Clarkson, the university announced Wednesday.

The daughter of Alvin Czanderna, a physics faculty member at Clarkson from 1965 to 1978, Karel Czanderna grew up in Potsdam. After receiving her bachelor's degree in physics at Clarkson in 1977, she received her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at Cornell University.

Dan Shirkey also has a bachelor's degree in physics, which he earned at SUNY Brockport. He met Karel when he arrived at Clarkson for his master's degree, which he completed in 1980. He later earned an MBA at Cornell.

"Our motivation for creating this professorship comes from our experience as students with outstanding professors in the Physics Department," says Czanderna, vice chair of the Clarkson board of trustees. "For me it was Prof. Herb Helbig. He was always busy with his research and course teaching. Yet, he was very accessible to students. He worked hard, but would always allow students to stop by with questions or when we needed to talk. And of course, my dad was a wonderful faculty role model for me, encouraging students, faculty and staff to maximize their potential."

Shirkey agrees that his experience at Clarkson with Professor Peter McNulty was a pivotal factor in his decision to invest in current Physics faculty. "Dr. McNulty was a brilliant researcher who also was an unsurpassed thesis advisor. He was approachable for graduate students. He helped open doors and create opportunities for students entering their professional lives," says Shirkey.

"Karel and Dan have remained connected to Clarkson since they were students," says Clarkson President Tony Collins. "Their recollection of the impact that faculty members had in their lives demonstrates that investing in the excellence of our faculty ultimately yields benefits that reach far from campus and into the global economy. A strong Physics Department is critical at this technology-based institution. All branches of science and engineering are built on a physics foundation and, as a result, students need to gain a thorough understanding of the discipline. Attracting and retaining top-tier physics faculty is a singular priority at Clarkson."