Mike Jurgensen
Michael “Mike” Jurgensen might never have come to Ole Miss had he not been following his older brother. That decision led to a 30-plus-year career as a pilot. Now semi-retired, Jurgensen generously gives back to the School of Engineering that gave him his start.
A faithful donor, Jurgensen is on the Engineering Advisory Board and usually makes one presentation each semester to engineering students. In November, he plans to speak as a part of the ENGR 400 Leadership and Professionalism course.
“I thoroughly enjoy talking to Ole Miss students,” Jurgensen said. “They are our future!”
Recently, the Jurgensen family endowed a scholarship in the name of his parents, Don and Carolyn Jurgensen, who dearly loved Ole Miss and worked hard to make sure he and his older sibling could attend the school.
“Honestly, I attended Ole Miss because my brother studied mechanical engineering there,” said the 1974 graduate. “We have always had the same interests, so I was sure I would like what he liked.”
Shadowing his sibling, Jurgensen also studied mechanical engineering, but found his interests divided. During his freshman year, he almost decided to pursue another major.
“Without question, Dean Karl Brenkert rescued me from making a poor decision to leave engineering,” he said. “I remember him as a kind, soft-spoken man who always thought before he spoke, cared for all of his students and had a great wit.”
John Fox, chair emeritus and professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, also influenced Jurgensen to go the distance.
“Dr. Fox was also a quiet man who had a caring personality and always had time to talk,” he said. “I enjoyed every math class I took. Also, thermodynamics and a class called ‘Elements of Propulsion’ (which delved into various types of engines) were very interesting to me.”
While his sibling went on with a successful career in mechanical engineering, Jurgensen’s love for airplanes led him to a job as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force for six years. He returned to mechanical engineering for about four years before finally becoming a pilot at Federal Express, performing several other interesting and challenging aviation-related jobs. Jurgensen’s flying career in the Air Force and at FedEx spanned 31 years.
“I recently retired from Federal Express but have returned on a limited basis as a technical pilot for the B777F, the same job I had before I retired,” Jurgensen said. “My responsibilities include acting as a company pilot representative to the aircraft manufacturer on pilot-related issues, interfacing with the manufacturer on design-related issues, producing manuals for flight crew members, answering questions for other parts of our company that are involved with the aircraft, the integration, testing and documentation of new pilot-related equipment installed onboard the aircraft, and acting as a resource for the discussion of the acquisition of additional aircraft.”
While humbled to have received some honors while in college, Jurgensen said he is most proud of the confidence and trust that FedEx showed in allowing him to manage several advanced technology projects, including the flight test and development of a new variant of the DC-10F (the MD10F), the development and certification of GPS-based instrument approaches in the Philippines and the position of technical pilot on the DC-10F, MD-10F, A380F and B777F aircraft.
“Without question, the engineering skills I learned at Ole Miss helped to prepare me for each one of these jobs,” Jurgensen said.
Jurgensen is married to the former Cindy Sharp, who attended Texas Tech University. The couple has three daughters who graduated from Ole Miss: Carrie Anne (BSME 05), Cathleen (BAEd 08) and Cassie (BSN-RN). Jurgensen’s hobbies include working on cars, antique firearms, fishing and international outreach through his church.