Calvin J. Wheeler

Calvin Wheeler began his professional career with General Electric, where an early assignment to develop, design, and test programs for B-52 on-board power systems led to his lifetime interest in power generation. After brief posts with McCulloch Corporation and Harnischfeger Corporation, Cal began his twenty-eight-year career with the Kohler Company in 1961. He retired in 1990 as senior engineer in Kohler’s generator division.

Since 1971, Cal has supported the University with annual donations, as well as generous gifts from his estate, which benefit faculty grants and the Rozsa Center. In 1995, Cal donated notes and a prototype for a DC traction motor he had designed in the mid-1950s. Cal is a member of Presidents, Second Century, and Founder’s clubs and the McNair Society. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the varsity track team, the dorm and ski clubs, and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and he played intramural sports. Cal has also been an assistant Boy Scoutmaster. He continues to ski with the Skihasen Ski Club and works with the Sheboygan Historical Society.

Excerpted from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Academy induction ceremony program August 2012