The College of Engineering - 2010 Celebration
Doug Gabauer
Civil Engineering, Class of 2001
Rowan Engineering Graduate Becomes University Professor
From student to professor, Dr. Doug Gabauer has gone full circle in making his impact on civil engineering in the classroom.
“I was attracted to civil engineering because of both the vast scale of the projects and the fact that the civil engineering projects often positively affect the general public in a very tangible manner,” says Gabauer. “For me, Rowan Engineering was attractive because it was a new program full of energy and excitement. I was glad to have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of such a great program.”
After graduating from Rowan with a Bachelor of Science in civil and environmental engineering (CEE) in May 2001, Gabauer began working as an assistant municipal engineer for The Alaimo Group in Mount Holly, N.J. Two months later, he returned to Rowan to attend the Order of the Engineer ceremony. After hearing a pitch from then Rowan mechanical engineering professor Dr. Clay Gabler (who is now an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Polytechnic and State University), Gabauer decided to leave his position at The Alaimo Group and return to Rowan to pursue a Master of Science in engineering.
After graduating from Rowan with his master’s in December 2003, Gabauer entered Virginia Tech to pursue a doctorate in biomedical engineering. He credits his Rowan education as an important piece of his preparation.
“While earning my master’s at Rowan, I had lots of opportunities to present my research, which really helped me develop as a scholar and continue to develop while I was at Virginia Tech,” said Gabauer. “Also, the varied, yet challenging, research tasks required as part of my master’s helped me adapt quickly to earning a Ph.D. in a different engineering discipline than my undergraduate degree.”
Following years of research (for his master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation), Gabauer returned to the classroom. This time he entered as a professor — first in a short-term role as an adjunct professor at Rowan, followed by an assistant professor position at Bucknell University, where he works today.
“It’s a great feeling to know that Doug has joined our ranks at a prestigious institution,” said Rowan Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Dr. Kauser Jahan. “His achievements are a testament of the quality of our CEE program — a sound undergraduate education that prepares students for the challenges of graduate school.”
“I enjoy being in the classroom because of the positive impact that I feel that I can have on the students,” says Gabauer. “Guiding a student to an epiphany about a particular concept and seeing the proverbial ‘light bulb in their head’ switch on is a very rewarding experience for me.”
In the years ahead, Gabauer says he hopes to develop his teaching to inspire “future civil engineers to accomplish their own great successes” while continuing his own research on roadside safety. Gabauer currently lives in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
