萝莉岛app

Dr. Chuck and Mrs. Jodie Karr

Michael Mercier | UAH

萝莉岛app President Dr. Chuck Karr and his wife Jodie are fast approaching the one-year anniversary of their arrival to Huntsville and the university, and during their time here, they鈥檝e felt welcomed and supported.

鈥淲e are so blessed to be associated with this university and the community,鈥� Dr. Karr says. 鈥淧eople here have taken us in and accepted us.鈥�

The Karrs say that this strong connection is just one of the reasons why they recently announced they are making an initial unrestricted planned gift of $50,000 to UAH. The gift will secure their place in the Richardson Shaver Thrasher (RST) Society, which honors those who plan to invest in the future of UAH, and they join the 57 families, 11 of whom just joined this year, to be welcomed into the RST Society.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to us that this university is a great contributor to the community, and it鈥檚 important that Jodie and I are a part of that contribution,鈥� Dr. Karr shares.

Dr. Karr joined UAH, a part of the University of Alabama System, as its 10th president in December 2021, after retiring from a 26-year career at the University of Alabama (UA), where he served most recently as the dean of the College of Engineering (COE). Dr. Karr joined UA first as a part-time instructor in the Engineering Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering departments but quickly rose through the ranks from assistant professor to full professor. He then served as the head of UA鈥檚 Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics department, prior to becoming the associate dean for research and graduate studies and later the dean of the COE.

Both Dr. and Mrs. Karr are also UA alumni. Dr. Karr is a three-time graduate of UA, culminating in a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics. However, UA wasn鈥檛 the first school he attended. 鈥淚 was slated to attend Georgia Technological Institute when the University of North Alabama waved a baseball scholarship at me. I went there for a year and played baseball before transferring to UA.鈥� Once at UA, he set his sights on engineering; 鈥淚 was told I was good at math and science, and that I should try engineering,鈥� Dr. Karr says. 鈥淪o, I put my head down and stuck with it.鈥� Mrs. Karr came to Alabama from the Midwest, and she graduated from UA with a degree in interior design. Like Dr. Karr, she was also a scholarship recipient.

What followed for Dr. Karr was a successful career working as a research engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Mines at the Tuscaloosa Research Center. He authored books and journal papers; he won engineering awards; and he presented at conferences. Yet, he says, 鈥淚 was never so much an engineer as I was an educator.鈥� His passion, he says, is working with and getting to know young people. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 appreciate and enjoy being around young people when you work in education, you鈥檙e in the wrong business.鈥�

That passion is evidenced here at UAH by the quick rapport he鈥檚 established with the 萝莉岛app community and beyond. It鈥檚 not uncommon to see Dr. Karr conversing with students or riding around campus on a golf cart, ferrying students to class and hearing more about their day. That drive to connect with students began, Dr. Karr says, when he was in school.

鈥淚n graduate school, I was first exposed to being an educator when I was a teaching assistant, but before that, I had plenty of professors who saw more in me than I saw in myself. And that鈥檚 what being an educator really is,鈥� Dr. Karr explains. Now that he鈥檚 president at UAH, he sees his role as one that has evolved over time. 鈥淎s you progress you feel farther from what brought you here, but then you realize you鈥檙e steering a different ship that affects a lot more people and makes a larger impact.鈥�

Dr. Karr emphasizes that an education is of utmost importance to him and his family. 鈥淓ducation transforms lives,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y dad was a coal miner and one of 13 kids here in Alabama, and he parlayed a football scholarship into an education. It changed his life and his lineage 鈥� it changed the expectations for me, my siblings, and my children.鈥� Dr. Karr adds that in his family, 鈥淲e were raised to care about others around you. For me, that鈥檚 what makes the world go around.鈥� That鈥檚 echoed in Mrs. Karr鈥檚 experience; her mother demonstrated a giving heart by serving at the local YMCA and spearheading programs that taught children with special needs in a time when not many did so. 鈥淚 witnessed my mother doing that,鈥� Mrs. Karr says, 鈥渁nd it inspired me to give back.鈥�

Dr. Karr notes that no one succeeds without support. For him, there were 鈥渁 lot of people who helped me when they weren鈥檛 obligated to do so.鈥� He adds, 鈥淚 tell students to go home and make a list of the people who helped them get where they are today. Then I say two things: one, you鈥檙e never going to list everyone who helped you, and two, find out how you can get your name on someone else鈥檚 list.鈥� That, the Karrs emphasize, is what they are striving to do now: get their name on someone鈥檚 list. 鈥淛odie and I said that when we had the opportunity to do so, we would like to give back.鈥�

The Karrs say they鈥檝e also worked to model the importance of giving to their two adult sons, Nate and Noah. Both sons graduated from UA, and both were on the track teams. Nate works for Brasfield and Gorrie as a project manager and just completed work on Huntsville鈥檚 Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering. Noah works as a news producer at WBRC-6 in Birmingham. 鈥淗opefully,鈥� Mrs. Karr asserts, 鈥渢hey are witnessing what we are doing in terms of giving. And they鈥檙e also interested in making an impact.鈥�

That impact may result from financial support, Dr. Karr says, but that isn鈥檛 always the case. 鈥淚鈥檝e coached hundreds of kids. Jodie and I did a decent amount of work with special needs kids with the Special Olympics,鈥� Dr. Karr clarifies. 鈥淚f you are limited in the financial support you can provide, then you can certainly give of your time.鈥�

The question some might have, considering the amount of time he and his family spent at UA, is, 鈥淲hy make a planned gift to UAH?鈥� Dr. Karr says the answer is pretty simple. 鈥淯AH has a great mission and there鈥檚 a great future ahead for UAH. It鈥檚 been a privilege to be a part of that mission and that future. I consider it a worthwhile investment.鈥�

For the Karrs, now felt like the right time to create their own impact at UAH by making a planned gift. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a time when you make a decision of what your legacy is going to be,鈥� Dr. Karr explains. 鈥淔or Jodie and me, it鈥檚 a culmination of years of planning and saving. We aspired to make a planned gift because you never know what the future will hold and we were ready.鈥�