Henry W. Patton II (1926-2003) was a long-time friend and supporter of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Two years before his death at age 77 he bequeathed $3.6 million to College of Engineering and Computer Science, the final legacy of a man whose commitment to educating the next generation of engineers included decades of giving generous financial contributions, technical counsel, and professional guidance to UM-Dearborn engineering students, graduates, and faculty.

A beneficiary of the GI Bill, a measure instituted by the US Government in 1944 to provide returning World War II veterans with a college education, Patton graduated in 1947 from the University of Colorado with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. Ten years later he founded Acromag Inc. of Wixom at the age of 31. Under his direction Acromag grew into a multi-million-dollar, international enterprise.

Ever mindful of the support the US Government had given to his education, he sought to invest in the future of American engineering and technology by sharing his knowledge and experience with engineering students. Working with the college's cooperative education program, he hired several UM-Dearborn students, providing them with invaluable professional experience. Patton was also an advocate of the college's Center for Engineering Education and Practice, later named in his honor, which works to develop mutually beneficial partnerships with industry. His expertise and guidance was shared with faculty from across the college, especially with members of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

"This mutually beneficial arrangement strengthened students' abilities to relate theory to practice," said Kurt J. Lipsky, personal representative of Patton's estate as well as Acromag's treasurer and director of finance and personnel. "Henry took an active role in making sure that co-op students were successful in their endeavors at Acromag and believed in challenging them from day one."

His involvement "gave him the opportunity to share his wealth of experience with students, one on one. He wanted to give back to the next generation of engineers and to the future of technology, an area he felt gave this country a competitive edge in the marketplace," Lipsky added.

Fifty years after its founding, Acromag is a leading designer of critical measurement instrumentation for the petrochemical and aerospace industries. Patton pioneered the use of magnetic amplifiers for process measurement applications, developing his early recognition of their potential for measuring low-level sensor signals into the basis for Acromag's success. His roughly 40-year-old design for a thermoelectric metal tester is still being manufactured by Acromag for its aircraft industry clients.

The Henry Patton Endowed Scholarship and Fellowship Fund, established with Patton's bequest, makes awards for academic financial assistance to electrical and computer engineering undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Patton's gift, in the words of Subrata Sengupta, dean of the college, has made it "possible for our college, and particularly the electrical and computer engineering department, to attract and support top-notch students." Through his contribution, Patton continues to promote the education of tomorrow's engineers at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.