Last Friday marked the retirement of Sue Skemp, a 1981 alumna who capped an extraordinary career in mechanical engineering by returning to her alma mater in 2008 to lead a critically important initiative. As executive director of the FAU-based Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center (SNMREC), Sue spent the past seven years overseeing the effort to develop technology that can capture the energy-generating power of Florida’s strong offshore currents. Enormous progress has been made under her leadership.

Sue returned to FAU after spending 31 years as an engineer at Pratt & Whitney, where she led programs funded by more than $110 million from federal agencies. Owl Nation was very lucky to get her back!

Sue can claim another, truly unique distinction: she was born on the Boca Raton campus when it was a WWII Army air base. Her dad, a captain in the Army Air Corps, was an instructor who taught the then-new art of radar operation to recruits. Sue made her debut in the base hospital.

In the aftermath of Sue’s retirement, the work of the SNMREC goes on, and so does her loyalty to FAU. In the letter announcing her retirement, she wrote, “I will continue to be a vigorous and avid advocate for the university and SNMREC.” We would expect nothing less from this true blue, native born Owl! Happy retirement, Sue!