Steve Browning’s 42 Years at the College of Engineering

While building a business and raising a family, Steve Browning also found the time to keep passing on his knowledge of structural engineering, by teaching part time at UNC Charlotte. He found the time for 42 years. It was rewarding, he says, and kept him up to date on engineering, kept him current on civil engineering codes and kept him young.

Browning, now age 72, started teaching in the college of engineering in 1967. “I was recruited by Tom Hadley from Duke Power, who was doing some teaching at the time,” Browning said. “I had been a teaching assistant at NC State when I was doing my masters. UNC Charlotte asked me to teach the PE exam review for civil engineering.”

He was working at the time at A.G. Odell and Associates, which was one of the largest architectural and engineering firms in North Carolina. Originally from Salisbury, Browning got his bachelors in civil engineering from NC State in 1961, then worked one year for the highway department, served in the military from 1962 to 1964, and earned his master’s in civil engineering from NC State in 1966.

After teaching the PE review course for a year, Browning began teaching regular engineering classes such as strength and materials, statics, dynamics and structures.

“I taught two days a week, and

the classes generally started at 5 or 5:30 pm and went until 6:30 or 7,” Browning said. “Almost all the students were working full or part time. Most were at Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas or Southern Bell. They were older, married and had families. The classes were small, with five to eight students.”

While teaching, Browning was building his own engineering career. He went to work for the small civil consulting firm Frank

Hicks Associates in 1970 and then to the architectural firm Middleton, Wilkerson and McMillian in 1977. His next big career step was starting his own engineering company, Browning Engineering, in 1977.

“We specialized in structural engineering working with architectural firms and contractors,” Browning said. “We did office buildings, churches, schools, shopping centers, jails, courthouses and military facilities. We had a good mix of public and private work.”

Browning Engineering peaked at about 12 employees, a number of them being UNC Charlotte graduates. “I did hire some of my students,” Browning said. “As their teacher I got to see who had a good aptitude for structures.”

While building his business and raising his family in the 1980s, Browning did take a break from teaching. “Classes were extremely large at that time with 50 to 60 students, and it got to be too much. So, I stopped teaching for a while”.

He did return to teaching in the late 80s and continued until the spring of 2009.

“I kept coming back every year. I just enjoyed it. It also kept me current on advances in engineering. And it helped me keep up with codes changes. It was a good run. I enjoyed the association with students. It kept me young.”

His association with Civil Engineering faculty and staff also made teaching at UNC Charlotte a valuable experience, Browning said. “My relationship with David Young, David Bayer and other members of the CE staff were very beneficial to me. The vision that Dr. Young and his team have for the department will enrich the students, faculty, university and community in the years to come. I’d also like to give special thanks to Elizabeth Scott for putting up with me all those years.”