Hagerty receives 2006 Trustees Award
April 19th, 2006
Joseph HagertyAlmost immediately after he received the 2006 University of Louisville Trustees Award April 18, Joe Hagerty was back in his office at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering advising a student.
The Trustees Award is given annually to recognize a faculty member who makes a difference in the lives of students.
“Dr. Hagerty cares for his students as good parents care for their children,” said Speed School Dean Mickey Wilhelm. “He is genuinely interested in their welfare as individuals and in helping them develop into creative engineers as well as involved citizens well equipped to make contributions to society.
“When attending professional society meetings, I have personally witnessed the high esteem that his former students have for him,” Wilhelm continued. “They are eager to tell him of their successes in professional practice and how they have applied the concepts that he taught them both inside and outside of the classroom.”
Hagerty teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the civil and environmental engineering department, and is adviser to the U of L student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Although he joined the faculty of U of L in 1970, his association with the university goes back further.
“I first came to Belknap Campus 55 years ago to play touch football with some of my friends on the lots around the old World War II quarters where the Chemistry Building is located now,” Hagerty said.
Nine years later, in 1960, he enrolled in the university. He graduated in 1965.
“Receiving the Trustees Award is the culmination of a long sojourn at this school,” Hagerty said. “I have known many of the faculty members who have received this award since it was established in 1989, and I never imagined that I would be named to join them.”
“During his 36 years on this faculty, Dr. Hagerty has been a tireless contributor to the growth and development of the Speed School,” Wilhelm said. “He has been an energetic teacher and scholar/researcher.”
Among his contributions, Hagerty led the effort to create an ethics class so that students entering the engineering field would be prepared for moral and ethical issues they might encounter.
Materials submitted in support of Hagerty's award nomination note that he has an open-door policy for students, and even helps those who are interested in his courses, but not enrolled in them.
“His selfless efforts to support students in and out of the classroom have greatly enhanced the lives of those under his tutelage,” they said.
“When I was young, I was taught that it is necessary to give your life to something bigger and better than yourself, in order to have a worthwhile life,” Hagerty said. “For me, that greater something was teaching, a way to share with others something about how the world works, and by sharing, to give them power to change the world for the better.
“Teaching also has been a way to continue to learn; my students have taught me far more than I have taught them. The kind words in the letters written to support my nomination make me think that my decision to teach was a good decision, and that the years I have spent in teaching have not been wasted,” he said.
Hagerty has published seven books and more than 100 technical papers and articles.
In 2005, he was among five faculty members to receive the President’s Distinguished Teaching Award. He also received a 2005 Zone II Outstanding Student Chapter Faculty Adviser Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Hagerty will be asked to speak at the May 13 commencement ceremony. He also will receive $5,000 and a plaque. His photo will be placed alongside previous recipients of the award in the Swain Student Activities Center.
