Family, colleagues honor Harry Paxton

For Sally Paxton, creating a scholarship honoring her late father means so much more than a financial commitment; it represents giving students an opportunity to do something they couldn’t otherwise do. 

“I think Dad would have loved it,” she said, fondly. 

The endowed scholarship, created in her father Harry Paxton's name, works to increase diversity among undergraduates in materials science and engineering (MSE). 

“I was given every opportunity to do whatever I wanted, and what I hope to do with the scholarship, in some way, is to open up that opportunity for others,” Sally said. “I would love it if people would look at my dad's life and understand more of what he stood for. And if that's inspirational to them, that would be incredibly rewarding.”

Harry Paxton was an integral part of the Carnegie Mellon University community for nearly 70 years. Paxton began his career at CMU (formerly Carnegie Tech) in 1953 as an assistant professor of metallurgical engineering. Later, he served as head of the MSE department and director of the Metals Research Laboratory. He retired from active teaching in 1994 and was named a University Professor, the highest designation a faculty member can receive at CMU. 

Paxton was internationally recognized in the field of metallurgy and served as an industry consultant, visiting professor at Imperial College in London and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a co-author of the book, Alloying Elements in Steel.

“One of the things that always struck me is that Dad was endlessly curious,” Sally said. “He always wanted to understand something. He read a lot; he thought a lot about issues that were much broader than his scope of metals and material science.” 

In addition to his accomplishments, Sally said her father was always able to see the big picture.

“He really saw how the work that he was doing fit into the greater good and how he could work towards that,” she said. 

Chris Magee (MSE ‘62, ‘65, ‘67) was also inspired by Paxton, who was his advisor during his time at CMU. Magee has established an endowed graduate fellowship to recognize Paxton’s contributions to the field of metallurgy, the university, and to his students. 

 

“He had an influence on my interest in the entire process of technological change,” Magee said. “He always had an interest in the full range from science to invention to very practical engineering.”

Sally said the family was “incredibly touched” when Magee established the fellowship in her father’s name.

Magee also noted how Paxton was talented at seeing the complexity within a variety of research endeavors and projects. 

“He never lost sight of the fact that to really change the world, it takes a lot,” he said. “That was important for me to learn because I always wanted to make a practical difference, as well as a scientific difference.”

He really saw how the work that he was doing fit into the greater good and how he could work towards that.

Sally Paxton, Harry Paxton's daughter

He hopes that by awarding a fellowship to MSE graduate students in Paxton’s name, his legacy will not only inspire recipients, but also motivate them to engage in quality education.

Sally said she first got the idea to establish an undergraduate scholarship from her father himself, as he had created one in his wife’s name in CMU’s College of Fine Arts, a program of which she was a graduate.

“I thought that I should set up a scholarship that honors my father and honors the way he wanted science to include more people,” Sally said.

She emphasized the importance CMU held both within her parents’ lives and her own.

“He did some other things, but he always came back to CMU,” she said. “Teaching for him was not work; it was love. Science was a love of his. He always said, ‘I was just lucky to find something that I love doing.’”