July 19, 2017
Prabhakar recipient of endowed chair in engineering
![Pavithra Prabhakar Pavithra Prabhakar](http://www.k-state.edu/k-publisher/custom-images/2017-Jul-18_0833_35-pavithr.jpg)
Pavithra Prabhakar, associate professor of computer science at Kansas State University, has been named the Peggy and Gary Edwards chair in engineering.
The endowed chair, established by the Edwards — Gary, civil engineering, and Peggy, English, both 1963 graduates of Kansas State University — supplements salaries and research budgets in order to recruit and retain high-achieving faculty in the College of Engineering.
Prabhakar is a recent recipient of a Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research's Science of Autonomy Program and has also received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a Summer Faculty Fellowship from the Air Force Research Lab and the Marie Curie Career Integration Grant from the European Union.
Gary Edwards enjoyed a successful career with Conoco, retiring as senior executive vice president. He and Peggy's longtime support of K-State includes endowed scholarship funds in the English department and College of Engineering.
Gary is a past member of the College of Engineering advisory council, including two years as council president. He earned distinction as an Alumni Fellow and is a member of the College of Engineering Hall of Fame.