Laura Rowland
Laura
is our 2006 Alumni Loyalty Award recipient. She was born to a Navy family in
Portsmouth, VA, and has lived outside London, England, in Garden Grove, CA
(near Disneyland) and in Charleston, SC. In 1974 she moved to Memphis and
put down roots.
Laura graduated from Bartlett High School in 1979 and received her BSCE in
1984 and her MSCE in 1988 from Memphis State University (now known as The
University of Memphis).
Laura's career began at Memphis Naval Air Station, Public Works Engineering
as a General Engineer in 1985 and she worked there
unti11989. From 1989 to the present she has worked in various positions with
the Memphis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 2004 Laura
volunteered to go to Iraq as a Project Manager/Engineer where she worked for
four months in the Baghdad area. She has Received two (2) Achievement Medals
for Civilian Service and a Commander's Award for Civilian Service.
Laura is a Civil Engineering Advisory Board member. In this capacity she has
made it a personal goal to raise as much money as possible for the Thomas S.
Fry Memorial Fund. Monies contributed to the Fry Fund will be used to honor
Dr. Fry's memory by refurbishing the Soils Lab.
The apple of Laura's eye is her nephew, Charles Rowland, who was born 3
months premature. He was in the hospital for quite a while, but now weighs
181bs. 8 oz and is 30" tall. Baby, parents & Aunt Laura are doing very well,
and the doctors are extremely pleased with Charles' progress.
Thanks, Laura, for the many hours of service you have given the Department
and for your willingness to help in so many different areas.
