When Dr. Ayman EL-Refaie left his role as a project leader at General Electric after 11 years, it wasn’t for a bigger paycheck or a corner office. It was for a vision — a vision made possible by the Thomas H. & Suzanne M. Werner Endowed Chair in Secure and Renewable Energy Systems at Marquette University.
Suzanne and Tom Werner (Eng ‘’86)
“Marquette taught me the importance of being in service of others. It gave me a much stronger moral compass.” Tom Werner, recipient of Marquette’s Alumnus of the Year award in 2023.
That compass has guided Tom’s career and philanthropy in ways that serve the greater good. As founder and CEO of California-based SunPower, his leadership gave rise to two companies leading in the manufacture and installation of high-efficiency solar systems. Through gifts ranging from first-generation scholarship and multicultural program support to the Werner Chair, Tom and his wife empower others to set their own compass for achieving the potential to Be The Difference.
Established in 2013 through the Werners' generosity, the endowed position was designed to accelerate innovation in energy sustainability and attract top talent. Enter, Dr. EL-Refaie. Upon joining Marquette as Werner Chair in 2017, he found a perfect fit both for his personal aspirations and the goals of the new role.
Additional seed funding from the Werners made it possible for Dr. EL-Refaie to launch the Werner Sustainable Energy Lab in the Opus College of Engineering, which has become a hub for groundbreaking research in renewable energy, electric transportation and even hybrid and electric aircraft. The endowed fund allowed the Werner Chair to hire postdoctoral researchers and graduate students, laying the foundation for ambitious projects and competitive grant applications as well as immersive research experiences for Marquette students.
That foundation paid off. In 2020, Dr. EL-Refaie and his team secured a highly competitive, two-phase multimillion grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop the next generation of electric drivetrains for aerospace propulsion. The team also secured a three-phase multimillion grant from the DOE to develop the next generation of electric drivetrains for hybrid/electric vehicles. The awards have positioned Marquette as a lead institution in transportation electrification — a role typically reserved for industry or institutional giants.
“It’s very unusual for a university, especially one the size of Marquette, to be leading projects like these,” Dr. EL-Refaie notes. “Usually, a big company would be leading and a university like us might be in a support role.”
And that role is progressing. In 2023, Marquette advanced to the second phase of the DOE project focused on hybrid and electric aircraft. Of the seven teams selected, only two were universities: Marquette and Texas A&M. The others? Industry titans like GE, Raytheon and Honeywell.
Dr. El-Refaie and Researchers
Behind these headlines are Dr. EL-Refaie and the researchers making it all happen — graduate students whose careers are launched, postdocs whose expertise is sharpened, and faculty whose scholarship is shaping the future of energy. Each success story traces back to the Werners, whose generous endowment not only sparked this momentum but continues to sustain the chair’s resources in perpetuity.
“The endowment is the safety net that keeps life-changing research moving forward.” Dr. EL-Refaie
Such is the power of endowed faculty support. It attracts visionary leaders, fuels discovery and ensures that Marquette remains at the forefront of innovation. For donors like Tom and Suzanne Werner, it’s literally an energizing gift that invests in sustainable energy research and — ultimately — in the scholars and students of Marquette.