A century of Bearcats in the family
Engineering student graduating 100 years after her great-grandfather
When Eloise Brown was deciding where to go to college, she was unsure what the right fit was for her. After talking to a family friend who connected her with an environmental engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati, she realized that engineering and the offerings at UC really interested her and she decided to make the move to Cincinnati. Unbeknownst to her, this choice continued a family legacy.
Eloise Brown is studying environmental engineering. Photo/Provided
"I kind of stumbled into engineering, but I like it a lot," Brown said. "The college's program is amazing, and graduating with real-world experience is incredible."
Even though the Bearcat experience is in Brown's blood, it wasn't a path she knew she'd follow. Born in England, she spent much of her life abroad, visiting family there, experiencing different parts of the world. She primarily grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, not too far from UC, though it wasn't really on her radar. Her family was close friends with Nora Honken, professor emeritus of engineering education at UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science. Honken introduced her to Margaret Kupferle, environmental engineering professor at CEAS. Kupferle retired in 2024 and was a UC faculty member for more than 40 yeras. Brown was unsure what to pursue in college, so she met with Kupferle to hear about her career and get advice from someone in the higher education world.
"I'd never considered it, but Professor Kupferle made it sound so fascinating, and she was so excited about it," Brown said. "It also really aligned with some of my natural interests."
Eloise Brown's great grandfather, Samuel T. Fife, graduated from UC in engineering 100 years before she did. Photo/Provided
When she was going through the college search process, Brown didn't know that her great-grandfather had graduated from UC with an engineering degree in 1926. It wasn't until she was discussing her choice with her grandmother that she learned her great-grandfather was a UC alumnus. She realized that she'd be graduating exactly 100 years after he did. Her family even still has his UC yearbook with his photo in it. Brown shared that she and her great grandfather also share involvement in Tau Beta Pi, an engineering honor society on campus.
"The college search process is quite stressful, and when I found out that there was this connection that had always been there, it felt like fate, my choosing UC," she said.
Another major draw to the university was the cooperative education (co-op) program. She shared that her co-ops really helped her determine how she wanted to use her degree. Brown spent three co-ops with Marathon Petroleum, two of which were in Ohio and one in California. She worked in different roles with the company, including on the regulatory compliance and terminals teams.
Eloise Brown has taken several international trips through UC International. Photo/Provided
For her final co-op role, which spanned two semesters, she opted to participate in the international co-op program, building upon her previous experience abroad. She worked as a research co-op at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany. There, she was involved in researching passive autocatalytic recombiners for use in nuclear safety and transportation fields. She also developing new code for modeling for this technology and acted as a liasion with a third-party client. The international co-op program gave her a unique opportunity to experience her field of study in a new environment.
“My international co-op was a big highlight for me,” she said. “It was so special, and I don’t think I would have gotten the opportunity in that caliber anywhere else.”
Brown’s involvement in the university’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders deeply impacted her UC experience. This student organization partners with communities in developing countries to implement infrastructure for clean water.
Brown traveled to Tanzania with Engineers Without Borders, where she worked directly with the local community and saw the real-world impact of her contributions. She became interested in the organization after seeing the nonprofit group at the annual student organization fair and remembered her grandfather talking about Doctors Without Borders, a similar group for medical professionals. These international experiences gave Brown a unique look at how she can use her degree in different cultures around the world.
She’s taken advantage of all UC has offered her – from international trips to student organizations to earning a master’s degree in chemical engineering at the same time as her bachelor’s in environmental engineering through the Accelerated Engineering Degree (ACCEND) program.
Before Professor Kupferle retired, Brown took several of her classes, an experience that was really impactful for her as Kupferle originally introduced her to the field of environmental engineering.
“Professor Kupferle is someone I really aspire to be like and look up to,” Brown said. “Seeing her in the lab and being in her class was really cool and brought everything full circle for me.”
After graduating in the spring of 2026, Brown has accepted a posotion in environmental education with the peace corps and looks forward to continuing to make the world a better place.
Featured image at top: Eloise Brown is graduating 100 years from her great-grandfather in UC engineering. Photo/Provided
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