After founding Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, even when everyone told him a business in Pullman would never be successful, the WSU Board of Regents gave Edmund O. Schweitzer the highest honor the university can bestow on an alumnus.

Schweitzer, an electrical engineer who attained his baccalaureate at WSU, came to receive the Regents Alumnus Award from the Board of Regents yesterday.

“I was struck by the beauty of the structure that we all live in,” Schweitzer said about his first arrival in Pullman.

After attending WSU, he became a faculty member. He said he “loved teaching and loved research” but what he really wanted to do was “invent and work”.

Since then, Schweitzer has founded Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. (SEL), which manufactures digital protective relays and related products and services, and Schweitzer the president of the corporation.

In a public presentation following reception of the award, Schweitzer said people often told him he couldn’t run a successful company in Pullman. By founding SEL, he said he was able to prove them wrong.

SEL and WSU work together towards continuing the electrical engineering program, Schweitzer said. As WSU educates more and more electrical engineers, SEL hires more WSU alumni.

Academic rigor and holding students responsible is what makes them disciplined and organized, which he said to be the most valuable thing universities can do for their students, Schweitzer said.

Schweitzer is the 45^th person to have received the Regents Alumnus Award, which has been granted to various people including ambassadors, doctors and journalists, since 1962, according to the Board of Regents website.

Michael C. Worthy, chair of the WSU Board of Regents, said reviewing contestants is a lengthy process. By the time it reaches the Board, the contestants have already been closely filtered.

“His impact to WSU (and) contributions to society as a whole” made him eligible, said Director of University Events Karlene Beaumont.

Schweitzer has also been bestowed the Medal in Power Engineering, which he received for leadership in revolutionizing the performance of electrical power systems with computer-based protection and control equipment.

Schweitzer has written dozens of digital relay design and reliability papers and currently holds 100 patents worldwide.

Reporting by Emily Alder-Storm