PULLMAN, Wash. — Glen L. Hower, a longtime member of the Washington State University electrical engineering faculty who passed away in January, will be honored with the naming of Glen Hower Hall in the new Schweitzer Engineering Hall.
With support from Edmund and Beatriz Schweitzer, the naming honors the impact that Hower had on generations of students.
Originally from Dryden, Washington, Hower received his engineering degrees at WSU, completing his bachelor’s degree in 1956 and a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1961. He later earned a PhD at Stanford, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow. He returned to WSU where he was a faculty member for 43 years.
Hower was instrumental in starting WSU’s Power Professorship program in 1973, which continues to support undergraduate power engineering education at WSU. In starting the power professorship program, he hired Professor Clifford Mosher and started WSU’s annual Western Protective Relay Conference.
Glen was not only a fabulous professor, but also a kind, calm, caring, and thoughtful leader of the EE department.
Edmund Schweitzer
“Without Dr. Hower, Dr. Mosher wouldn’t have come to WSU. Without Dr. Hower’s approval, I wouldn’t have come, either, and there would have been no Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories,” said Edmund Schweitzer. “Glen was not only a fabulous professor, but also a kind, calm, caring, and thoughtful leader of the EE department.”
Hower served as department chair and saw the start of the computing revolution when the electrical engineering program came together with the new computer engineering program in 1983. When the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science was created in 1990, he was named associate director. Over his career, he taught nearly 4,500 students.
His many honors at WSU include being named ALCOA professor, 1972–75; outstanding professor in the college, 1988; and outstanding professor in electrical and computer engineering, 1988 and 1992. In 1996, the Golden Key Honor Society selected him as academic adviser of the year. In 2000, he received WSU’s Alumni Achievement Award.
“With this naming, it’s evident just how much Dr. Hower changed at least one of his students’ lives,” said Partha Pande, interim dean of the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture. “Of course, there were countless students who learned from him and who passed his legacy on. We’re so pleased and thankful to continue that legacy far into the future for a new generation of students and faculty in the new Schweitzer Hall.”
Schweitzer Engineering Hall is expected to be open to students in fall of 2026. The approximately $80 million project was made possible by donor and state support, including $40 million from the Washington Legislature as well as a combined $20 million from Edmund and Beatriz Schweitzer and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. The building represents a first step in transforming the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture’s district located on the WSU Pullman campus.
Media Contacts
- Bridget Flynn Pilcher, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, 509-335-0144, pilcher@wsu.edu
- Tina Hilding, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture Communications, 509-335-5095, thilding@wsu.edu
