Alumnus establishes nuclear engineering endowment

An NC State engineering alumnus has established a $50,000 endowment in the Department of Nuclear Engineering to help attract students to its undergraduate program.

Ashok Bhatnagar, who received a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from NC State in 1979, established the endowment to provide resources for recruiting K-12 students as well as early-career undergraduates into nuclear engineering. Bhatnagar is senior vice president of nuclear generation, development and construction for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity for nine million people in parts of seven southeastern states.

“We are grateful to Ashok Bhatnagar for this generous endowment gift to our nuclear engineering program,” said Dr. Louis Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering at NC State. “His support will help us attract outstanding students who will help shape our nation’s energy future.”

Bhatnagar said he was proud of NC State for keeping its nuclear engineering program during the 1980s and 1990s, a time when other engineering schools abandoned their nuclear programs due to public concerns and lack of student interest. Now that nuclear energy is considered an important source of safe and clean energy, Bhatnagar wants to ensure that talented young students enter the field.

“I really believe that maintaining the program while others were falling away was just a great decision by the school,”