Frederick Zimmerman, retired St. Thomas professor and co-founder of the School of Engineering, recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota Business magazine.
The award, which was presented to Zimmerman on Sept. 23, recognizes individuals who have made major accomplishments in Minnesota’s manufacturing industry and who have contributed to advancement of the industry for at least 20 years, according to the magazine.
Zimmerman said a lot of the work he did before coming to St. Thomas led to his eligibility.
“I was in (the computer) industry for 25 years,” Zimmerman said. “I was with IBM and Control Data and then National Computer Systems.”
Zimmerman has also been on the board of directors for 16 companies, almost all of which have been in manufacturing. He has authored three books and numerous articles.
He said planning for the School of Engineering started in 1985 with a committee of people who had been in the engineering and manufacturing industry.
“I was actually on the adjunct faculty at the time, and so they asked me if I would be interested in coming in … as the first director of the engineering program,” he said.
According to engineering professor Michael Hennessey, Zimmerman played a key role in the foundation of engineering efforts at St. Thomas.
“He made a lot of decisions related to hiring good people over the years and what programs to offer and things like that,” said Hennessey, who met Zimmerman in 1994 and worked with him after Hennessey was hired by the university in 2000.
After holding the position for 10 years, Zimmerman stepped down in 1995 and became a full-time professor in the department.
“I had a lot of classes in both the engineering program and the engineering MBA and the international management program, so I usually taught the capstone classes,” Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman retired from St. Thomas in 2005 and was recognized as an emeritus professor by colleagues and the Rev. Dennis Dease for his exceptional teaching, active engagement of the profession and service to the university and the external community.
Zimmerman said he owes his success to his wife Joanell.
“In my acceptance speech, I gave great credit to my wife because she was the first one in our family to get an advanced degree, and since that time, there have been many more,” Zimmerman said. “She’s always been the family role model. That’s the long and short of it.”
Hennessey said the award is well deserved.
“Based on what I know about Fred, in terms of his interests and accomplishments and I know he’s also been the author of several books related to manufacturing that have done quite well in terms of readership and sales and so on … It’s a great honor for him,” Hennessey said.
At 78 years old, Zimmerman is still on three company boards and has a lot of contact with the manufacturing industry.
“(Winning the award is) not much change,” Zimmerman said. “I suppose that when you get that old then you get a lifetime service award.”
Jamie Bernard can be reached at bern2479@stthomas.edu.