College of Engineering Launches The Patrick J. Cunningham Jr. and Susan Ward '80 Endowed Lecture Series in Engineering

The College of Engineering welcomed Dr. Peter E. Raad, The Linda Wertheimer Hart Professor and Director, The Guildhall, at Southern Methodist University as the inaugural speaker of The Patrick J. Cunningham Jr. and Susan Ward ’80 Endowed Lecture Series in Engineering on November 12.

Dr. Raad spoke to students, faculty, and friends of the College about the role of video games in human communication and shared insights into the Guildhall’s work to train the next generation of video game engineers and designers. His presentation, “They Speak in Pixels! Interactive Digital Games as the 21st Century’s Mode of Human Expression,” was made possible by a gift from Susan Ward ChE ’80 and her husband Patrick Cunningham. Their son Ryan Cunningham CBA ’08 attended the presentation.

The Patrick J. Cunningham Jr. and Susan Ward ’80 Endowed Lecture Series in Engineering was created to offer engineering students exposure to experts from various engineering fields and educational opportunities outside the classroom. The lecture series will feature two speakers per academic year (one each semester).

For updates on the next speaker in this series, check the College’s protoTYPE e-newsletter, or become a fan of the College of Facebook at www.facebook.com/VillanovaEngineering.