History as Career Inspiration: Engineering

Pittsburgh’s own David McCullough, who sadly passed away on August 7, needs no introduction to readers of American history. During his career, he received wide acclaim and a host of literary awards for his body of work, including two Pulitzer Prizes for Distinguished Biography, “Truman” in 1993 and “John Adams” in 2002. He also was honored by the National Endowment of the Humanities in 2003 by being named to deliver that year’s Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. He spoke eloquently then, including this: “But what did they, the Founders, mean by the expression, ‘pursuit of happiness’? “It didn't mean long vacations or material possessions or ease. As much as anything it meant the life of the mind and spirit. It meant education and the love of learning, the freedom to think for oneself.…