ALONZO G. DECKER JR. was a university trustee for more than 30 years and served as national chairman for the Hopkins Hundreds Campaign in the 1970s, during which he gave generously, including the endowment for professorships in science and engineering. As chief executive officer of Black & Decker, Alonzo Decker Jr. helped lead the manufacturing company to international prominence, devising some of its most successful products including the electric hammer. He also was instrumental in the development of the cordless drill and the portable electric drill for home use. With his wife, VIRGINIA DECKER, Mr. Decker actively supported educational institutions throughout Maryland. He died in 2002.
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Alonzo G. Decker Chair in Mechanical Engineering
Whiting School of Engineering
Established in 1985 by the estate of Fannie Fox Decker in honor of her son, Alonzo G. Decker Jr.
Held by Kevin J. Hemker
KEVIN J. HEMKER, the Alonzo G. Decker Professor of Mechanical Engineering, received his doctorate in materials science and engineering from Stanford University in 1990. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland, he joined the Johns Hopkins’ Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1993. In 2001, he became the program chair of mechanical engineering in the Whiting School’s Engineering Programs for Professionals (now Engineering for Professionals) and in 2007 was appointed chair of Mechanical Engineering. Hemker has secondary appointments in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Earth and Planetary Sciences, and is the former chair of the university’s Faculty Budget Advisory Committee.
Externally, Hemker serves the Department of Defense as a member of the prestigious Defense Science Research Council, a think tank for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He recently participated in an Energy Materials Blue Ribbon Panel convened to advise the Department of Energy on materials-related energy solutions. Dr. Hemker is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society for Materials and is currently on the board of directors for The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.