The Robert and Dorothy Pfeil Library Endowment in Electrical Engineering was established in 2008. Bob (’49) was a former chairman of the board and senior vice president of the construction division of Koontz-Wagner Electric Co. Inc., where he served for 40 years. At Notre Dame, he was a member of the Hesburgh Libraries Advisory Council until his death in 2007. He and his wife, Dorothy, had two sons, James, a senior CAD technician for the Utilities Department at Notre Dame, and Michael (’84). Dorothy passed away in 2002.

The endowment enables the Libraries to keep up with information needs and resources in multiple formats that are required by students and faculty in engineering and related fields. Recent acquisitions include monographs, periodicals, and electronic resources, bringing the quality of these items increasingly in line with the quality of educational programs and research initiatives in electrical engineering at Notre Dame. NDnano is expanding its scope to include the study of the societal impacts of nanotechnology. The ND Wireless Institute, with 1,500 publications and 18 books, is having a tremendous impact on the development of wireless technologies to benefit society and the world. These advancements rest on the research infrastructure that the library continues to build because of funds like the Pfeil Endowment.