Hall of Fame
Celebrating excellence
This prestigious honor is awarded to select ASU Engineering alumni and champions who have demonstrated the Fulton Schools’ vision of access, excellence and innovation within their professions and communities and who have made significant advancements in their respective fields.
This celebration recognizes the achievements of these visionary individuals who have left an indelible mark on the world.
2024 Hall of Fame Ceremony
Feature article
5 inducted into Fulton Schools Hall of Fame
Dec. 4, 2024
Full Circle, ASU Engineering News
Video
2024 inductees
Edward Dwight
’57 BS in aerospace engineering
’86 honorary doctorate of humane letters
During his U.S. Air Force service, Edward Dwight graduated from ASU with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering. Dwight became a test pilot and trained in the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School program, later becoming the nation’s first Black NASA astronaut candidate. After leaving the military, Dwight worked as a systems engineer at IBM and pursued ventures in engineering, real estate and entrepreneurship. He also became an accomplished sculptor. Dwight received numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate of humane letters from ASU in 1986, the Air Force Commander’s Award for Public Service and the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artist Award in 2020, and the University of Denver CAHSS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. In 2021, NASA named an asteroid after Dwight and this year, he became the oldest person to fly in space.
Celeste Fralick
’98 MS in biomedical engineering
’13 PhD in biomedical engineering
In a technology career spanning more than four decades, Celeste Fralick earned a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from ASU in 1998, followed by a doctoral degree in 2013. She is an executive technical leader with more than four decades of industry experience, working at leading companies such as Intel, McAfee, Medtronic, Fairchild and Texas Instruments. Fralick has served in prominent roles such as chief data scientist and senior principal engineer. Currently, she serves as chief data officer for startups Choir Power and Innovatio HealthDesign, as well as a managing partner at the consulting firm Purkinje Science and Technology. Fralick is a member of numerous professional societies, holds 18 patents and has been named to Forbes’ “Top 50 Women in Technology” list in 2018, CDO Magazine’s “Global Data Power Women” lists in 2020 and 2021, and the Data Science Salon “250 Pioneers in AI” list in 2024.
Robert Garner
’76 BS in electrical engineering
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from ASU, Robert Garner worked for Xerox, where he co-invented the Xerox STAR Professional Workstation. Garner helped create numerous electronic innovations at Xerox, including the first commercial 10-megabits per second ethernet adapter. He then joined Sun Microsystems, where he led design on SPARC, Sun’s reduced instruction set computer. Garner went on to lead the development of microprocessor architecture, performance, compilers and computer-aided design at Sun. After becoming director of hardware engineering at a startup called Brocade Communications, Garner then worked at IBM Research, where he managed and designed hardware and software products. Since 2004, Garner has led the restoration and maintenance of two 1960s IBM 1401 computers at the Computer History Museum in California.
Bill Slessman
’99 BS in construction
George Slessman
’97 BSE in industrial engineering
ASU football players and brothers George Slessman and Bill Slessman graduated from ASU with degrees in industrial engineering and construction engineering, respectively. The pair went on to dedicate their careers to improving cloud computing and data center efficiency. The Slessman brothers have co-founded multiple companies, including IO Data Centers, which introduced modular data solutions to fit the distinct needs of organizations worldwide. They hold numerous patents for their technology inventions. The Slessman brothers continue entrepreneurial efforts to accelerate development in software, digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence through companies such as DCX Data Centers, GYPC Technologies and CR8DL.ai. A true Sun Devil family, both brothers met their spouses at ASU, and Bill’s two sons are now earning their engineering undergraduate degrees in the Fulton Schools.
2023 Hall of Fame Ceremony
Feature article
4 inducted into Fulton Schools Hall of Fame
Nov. 17, 2023
Full Circle, ASU Engineering News
Video
2023 inductees
Jon Bayless ’67
Bio
After starting out working on the Apollo S-Band communication system at Motorola in Scottsdale, Jon Bayless career has taken him from teaching electrical engineering to transitioning a Dallas telecommunications network from analog to digital technology. He then joined venture capital fund Sevin Rosen Management Company to focus on early stage investing in technology based businesses and companies that strive to transform the workplace. Bayless has served as chairman and been involved with several successful startups that have been acquired by major corporations. He recently formed Bayless Capital with his daughter to focus on seed investments in emerging businesses. Bayless also served with SkySong Innovations, formerly Az Technology Enterprises (AZTE), on the advisory board to enhance the technology transfer portfolio at ASU.
Margaret Woodward ’82
Bio
After graduating from ASU in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, Margaret “Maggie” Woodward served more than 32 remarkable years in the U.S. Air Force. Her service led to many achievements, including flying more than 3,800 hours, leading during world conflicts and becoming the first woman to command a combat air campaign. She was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of 2011. After retiring in the grade of Major General, Woodward is now an Air Force senior mentor responsible for building and educating the next generation of Air Force senior leaders. Woodward also served on ASU’s Flag Officer Advisory Council.
Armand Neukermans ’67
Bio
Armand Neukermans has led a prolific research, management and entrepreneurial career. Neukermans has held various research and management positions within the organizations of Hewlett-Packard, Xerox and General Electric. At Hewlett-Packard he worked on the team that invented the inkjet printer. He founded Xros, an optical switch company that was acquired by Nortel Networks in 2000, and is the inventor of more than 80 patents in diverse fields. In addition to other prestigious awards, Neukermans was named Silicon Valley Inventor of the Year in 2001, and was knighted as an “Officer in the Order of Leopold” by the Belgian Crown. Since his retirement, Neukermans has supported numerous environmental and social entrepreneurial projects, including a widely acclaimed knee prosthesis and a landmark model for community buying of solar power, which helped launch SolarCity.
George Beakley Jr.
Bio
In 1956, U.S. Army veteran George Beakley Jr. took a high-risk but high-potential job in Arizona at a startup engineering program inside a small teachers college in Tempe, Arizona. In his first year, he and Dean Lee Thompson invented and implemented a new method of engineering education which provided a bridge between mathematics, basic sciences and engineering practices. This revolutionary improvement to engineering education has played a fundamental role in the success of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. Well over a million students have benefited from Beakley’s many contributions to engineering excellence.