A professor’s impact can go a long way, even lasting decades.
Robert Altenkirch (ME’70, PhD ME’75), Cliff Owens (ME’70, MS ME’72), and Steve Plee (ME’73, MS ME’75, PhD ME’78) recently teamed up to name a classroom in the Mechanical Engineering Building after Arthur “Mac” Mellor, a former professor and friend who died in 2022.
During his time at Purdue, Mellor worked in the jet propulsion laboratory—now part of the Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories—and led active gas-turbine research programs. Early in his career, Mellor researched the spectra emitted by exploding magnesium wires in a shock tube under varying atmospheric conditions,
which Altenkirch participated in as an undergraduate.
Fraternity brothers Altenkirch and Owens took Mellor’s thermodynamics class together and joined his research group their junior year.
“Working under Mac was a great experience,” Altenkirch says.
“So, I decided that’s what I also wanted to do for a career—be a faculty member, teach, and conduct research.”
While working under Mellor, the two students developed a close relationship with him. To this day, Owens considers him a great friend. Altenkirch and Mellor kept in touch throughout the decades, often celebrating Christmas together.
The idea for a named classroom developed when the Purdue
for Life Foundation contacted Plee—another of Mellor’s former students—about supporting the ME Building’s renovation and naming opportunities. At the time, he and Altenkirch were serving as trustees of Mellor’s estate.
“We initially wanted to name an office after Mac, but we couldn’t figure out which office in the building was his,” Altenkirch says.
“Then we decided a classroom would be a good option.”
Plee and Altenkirch then learned Owens also contributed to the renovation and asked if he wanted to join them. Owens agreed.
“Mac was a great friend and professor, so it wasn’t hard for me to join in on naming the classroom after him,” he says.
Though Altenkirch and Owens have known each other for years, Owens and Plee have never met, but all three alumni enjoy a connection from having worked under Mellor.
“Mac was instrumental in steering us on successful career paths,” Altenkirch says. “We wanted this to be a tribute to him
and to what he did for his students.” Mellor’s named classroom is located on the first floor of the Mechanical Engineering Building.
