In Memoriam

David Kunkle (’94 MPA) passed away on July 14, 2023. The former Dallas chief of police, who served from 2004 until his retirement in 2010, was a respected leader who oversaw significant drops in crime for the city and made strides in transparency and reform. “I had the honor of meeting Chief Kunkle the week that I arrived in Dallas,” current Chief Eddie García said in a written statement. “He left a legacy and very high bar to achieve for any leader of this organization.” Kunkle also served as Arlington Police Department chief from 1985 to 1999. The department released a statement upon his passing, noting that he was a “remarkable man and public servant” and helped establish the department as a “leader in community policing.”

Entrepreneur Robert K. “Bob” Utley III passed away Jan. 28, 2023, in Belton, Texas. He is survived by his wife, Ann, and his two sons. Utley studied business at UTA from 1963-67 and was a three-year letter winner and all-conference football player. He served the University as a member of the President’s Advisory Board and was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 2000. A philanthropist, he created the Bob and Ann Utley Graduate Fellowship Endowment to award graduate fellowships. Utley was chairman of two companies he founded: the Utley Group, a private investment company focused on real estate, securities, venture capital investments, and agriculture, and FirstWorthing Co., a national developer of multifamily rental housing, including university residence halls. Previously, he served as chairman of Inland American Communities and as CEO of First Southwest Company and Seamen’s Bank. Most recently, he served as chairman of Amicus Investors LLC.

Mo-Shing Chen, professor emeritus of electrical engineering, passed away on April 30, 2023, in Taiwan. Dr. Chen retired in 2003 after spending more than 40 years at the University. He was an outstanding teacher and researcher and made numerous contributions to the field of energy systems. Chen founded the Energy Systems Research Center, the first research center at UTA, in 1968. He was honored by the College of Engineering in 2023 as one of the first recipients of its Legacy Award in recognition of his outstanding career-long performance and dedication to the college. A scholarship in Chen’s honor, the Dr. Mo-Shing Chen Scholarship in Power Systems, was established in 2019 to support graduate electrical engineering students with a demonstrated interest in power systems.

Retired Col. Everette Eugene Gray (’68 BS, Mechanical Engineering), a Distinguished Alumnus, passed away Dec. 7, 2022. Gray was a member of the Corps of Cadets while at UTA, serving as first sergeant during his sophomore year and company commander during his senior year. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a regular Army second lieutenant in the Chemical Corps, with an initial branch assignment in Air Defense Artillery. After serving a deployment in Vietnam, Gray held a number of roles for the military, culminating in a promotion to colonel in 1990 and an assignment as deputy director of the Office of Research and Advanced Technology at the U.S. Department of Energy. He was acting director of the office from April 1992 until his retirement from the military in July 1993.