Eddie Ibarra Retires After 28 Years of Service
Eddie Ibarra, senior procurement officer, has retired after 28 years of service with the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering. Over the years, Ibarra has served as the department office assistant, stores clerk and as senior procurement officer.
Before beginning his career at The University of Texas at Austin in 1987, Ibarra worked as an English lab assistant at the University of Houston and as a payroll clerk for a construction company in Brownsville, Texas.
Ibarra’s diligent work in purchasing, large orders and business contracting earned him recognition at the department, college and university levels. Ibarra received the Ruth Crawford Staff Excellence Award (1996 and 1999), CCOE Staff Excellence Award (1997), and UT Staff Excellence Award (1997) for his contributions to the effectiveness of the teaching, advising, counseling and research efforts of the Cockrell School of Engineering.
“Eddie has been recognized by the department, the school and the university for his exemplary contributions to the university’s mission,” said Thomas Truskett, department chair. “But more importantly, he will be remembered for going the extra mile in all that he did while on the Forty Acres, to the great benefit of our students.”
Despite the many awards and accolades Ibarra received, it is the interactions and relationships he had with students, staff and faculty that he will miss the most.
“I genuinely got a kick out of working with all the students throughout the years,” Ibarra said. “There was never a dull moment.”
Now that he has retired, Ibarra will travel to Italy in the fall and until then, he plans to “take life one day at a time.”