$10 million gift establishes John and Barbara Bruning Deanship to propel school’s next era of engineering leadership

A $10 million commitment from University of Rochester Trustee Emeritus John Bruning and his wife, Barbara, will endow the deanship of the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, creating a permanent leadership position that bears their names and secures long-term support for the school’s academic vision.

Pending Board of Trustees approval this spring, longtime dean Wendi Heinzelman will be formally installed as the inaugural John and Barbara Bruning Dean, a role that recognizes both her nearly decade-long record of strategic growth at Hajim and the couple’s deep confidence in her leadership.

The Bruning Deanship is part of For Ever Better: The Campaign for the University of Rochester and is designed to provide stable, flexible funding that will help the Hajim School recruit and retain distinguished leaders, advance high-priority initiatives, and bolster the institution’s financial resilience for generations to come. University President Sarah Mangelsdorf has praised the gift as a thoughtful, strategic act of philanthropy that both honors excellence and positions Hajim to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges through engineering research and education.

For the Brunings, the endowed deanship extends a long philanthropic legacy at Rochester that already includes establishing the Robert E. Hopkins Center for Optical Design and Engineering, the Brian J. Thompson Professorship in Optical Engineering, and the David R. Williams Director of the Center for Visual Science—all reflecting their affinity for optics, engineering, and visionary academic leadership. John Bruning, a pioneering optical engineer credited with foundational work in excimer laser lithography and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, has been a key volunteer leader across multiple University initiatives as well as a recipient of top institutional honors such as the George Eastman Medal and the Dean’s Medal.

Barbara Bruning’s career has spanned business office management, software consulting, fitness, and motivational speaking, and she has held influential volunteer roles with the University, Alpha Omicron Pi, and cultural institutions in Rochester, underscoring her longstanding commitment to community and education. The couple’s generosity also extends to the Memorial Art Gallery, the Medical Center, and leadership giving societies including the George Eastman Circle and the Wilson Society, further entrenching their influence across the academic, cultural, and health landscapes of the University.

Heinzelman, who was reappointed in 2025 to a third five-year term as dean, has overseen a period of significant growth marked by increased research expenditures, expanded academic offerings and experiential learning opportunities, and strengthened interdisciplinary collaboration, developments that have elevated Hajim’s national profile. Expressing profound gratitude to the Brunings, she has described the endowed deanship as both a personal honor and a powerful mandate for the school to pursue ambitious engineering solutions that advance learning, discovery, and societal impact well into the future.