Financial Support

Established with the Auburn University Foundation by Mr. & Mrs. David Carnahan and Family, Dr. & Mrs. Robert E. Thomas, Dr. & Mrs. Jerry Davis, and Dr. & Mrs. Nathan T. Dorris, this endowment provides scholarships for students in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering within the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. This endowment was created through an initial gift of $25,000 comprised of $15,000 by Mr. & Mrs. David Carnahan and Family, $5,000 by Dr. & Mrs. Robert E. Thomas, $5,000 by Dr. & Mrs. Jerry Davis, and $5,000 by Dr. & Mrs. Nathan T. Dorris. Please consider joining us in making a contribution to this most worthwhile scholarship program. Our goal is to elicit enough contributions to grow this fund to the full scholarship level. To do this, we must raise approximately $125,000.

Dr. Brian J. Carnahan was born, February 18, 1966 in McKeesport, PA. He was the second of three sons born to David and Mary Jane Carnahan. At the time of his death, February 22, 2005 he was married to the former Ms. Paula Rendulic, of McKeesport, and was the loving father of three children - a daughter Megan Jean, then age 3, and identical twin boys, William David and Nathaniel James ages, 1.5 years.

Dr. Carnahan was a 1984 honors graduate of Elizabeth Forward High School in Elizabeth, PA. He went on to do his undergraduate work at Penn State University at University Park, State College, PA. graduating in 1988 with a BS Degree in Science with honors. While attending the University he was a member of the Sigma Phi Fraternity and received his first technical publishing honors at that time as an undergraduate student. In the fall of 1988 he was accepted into the graduate studies program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, MA, and subsequently graduated during the spring of 1991 with a Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (emphasis on ergonomics). Upon graduation he accepted a position as an industrial engineer and ergonomist with U.S. Department of Labor (OSHA) in Washington, DC. He left the Department of Labor in 1995 to pursue a doctoral degree in Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. While attending the University he held a position as an instructor in industrial ergonomics for the University's Manufacturing Assistance Center and served as a human factors specialist for the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Research Group, and CMU's Truck Driver Training & Safety Center. Upon receiving his doctorate, he left the University to accept a visiting professor's position in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Auburn University, AL, in 1999.

Dr. Carnahan was appointed an Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Auburn University in 2000. He served faithfully in this position teaching courses in both the undergraduate and graduate curricula. He published many articles in respected professional journals in the industrial engineering, human factors, and ergonomics disciplines. He was a member of the graduate faculty at Auburn and the Injury Control Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He also was Director of Research for the Occupational Safety & Ergonomics and Injury Prevention Programs for the Deep South Educational & Research Center for Occupational Health & Safety. Prior to passing away, Brian did enjoy knowing that he earned promotion to Associate Professor and granting of tenure, for his superior academic record and accomplishments. Dr. Brian J. Carnahan (39) died on February 22nd, 2005, in Pittsburgh, PA from complications associated with cancer.