Sympathy to the Family and Former Colleagues of Robert Engelken, Professor Emeritus

JONESBORO – The university community extends sympathy to the family, friends and former colleagues of Dr. Robert D. Engelken of Jonesboro, who died Thursday, Jan. 15. 

Engelken was a member of the Arkansas State University faculty for 33 years, from 1982 until his retirement in 2015, at which time he was named emeritus professor of electrical engineering.

In addition to his classroom responsibilities, Engelken is remembered for developing a multidisciplinary research program that included semiconductors, optoelectronics, thin film materials and deposition. He also served with distinction as director of the electrical engineering program.

He received the university’s Faculty Achievement Award for Scholarship in 2002, in recognition of his work as author or co-author of almost two dozen professional publications and presentations during the year, and for writing six research grants that attracted more than $300,000 in external funding.

Engelken was among a group the Faculty Association selected in 2022 for the Distinguished Faculty Wall of Honor in the Reng Student Union.

A native of Walnut Ridge, he completed his bachelor’s degree in physics at A-State before completing his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering at what is now Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla.

Survivors include his wife, Sherry; two sons, David and Daniel; and many other family members.

Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21, and the funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, at Emerson Funeral Home. The obituary is available online.

The clock tower of the Dean B. Ellis Library will be darkened Thursday evening in memorial tribute to Engelken for his contributions to higher education and Arkansas State University.