Paustenbach felt so strongly about the value of such advice that he is making it possible for current Rose-Hulman students to benefit from thoughts of innovative thinkers by creating Paths Less Traveled: The Paustenbach Lecture Series on Uncommon Careers for Engineers and Scientists.

A gift from Paustenbach has established an endowment to bring to campus speakers who have had an impact on society and who will, "remind students there are non-traditional careers and life paths that bright, well educated and intellectually curious Rose-Hulman students should consider pursuing," explained Paustenbach, who graduated in 1974 from Rose-Hulman with a degree in chemical engineering. Paustenbach has taken a somewhat different path on his career. He has earned three graduate degrees, authored more than 200 scientific papers and managed two relatively large consulting firms. He is currently vice president of Exponent, a leading engineering and scientific consulting firm in Menlo Park, Calif.

"Most people, in their later years of life, will almost always reflect happily about the satisfaction of pursuing difficult tasks, taking risks, accepting difficult challenges, working or traveling to distant lands, and having a positive influence on people or events," said Paustenbach.

"Invited speakers will encourage students to realize that a good paying job and living in suburbia is not the only journey available to them." He noted "there will never be a better time in most student's lives to pursue out-of-the-ordinary learning opportunities or experiences."

"Students will probably never meet anyone who will say they wish they had spent three additional years in a their traditional Fortune 500 job versus pursuing a graduate degree, starting a company, doing public service work or traveling the world," he said. "Rose-Hulman students need to hear that message at least once before they graduate."

The lecture series was launched Feb. 4 during the Hatfield Hall Celebration Week Feb. 1-9. The speaker was David Roux, who was raised in rural Maine, and then graduated from Harvard College, Cambridge University and the Harvard Business School. He is a founding partner of one of Silicon Valley's most successful equity firms and was formerly vice president of Oracle Corp. His lecture was titled, "Celebrating Serendipity: Heretical Advice and Unconventional Wisdom on Career Management."

The construction of the new Hatfield Hall theater and alumni center, "pushed me over the top with respect to funding this series," Paustenbach said.