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Jim Kochenour ’70

Paying Forward Career Defining Opportunities

Jim Kochenour ’70, ’77 supports the next generation of civil engineers through a bequest pledge

“Drexel has played a very big part in my life,” says James L. Kochenour ’70, ’77, a bachelor’s and master’s graduate of the College of Engineering whose Drexel experience launched his 50-year career in traffic engineering.

Jim attended Drexel on a generous scholarship established by a local bank president for graduates of Ephrata High School in southeastern Pennsylvania. In the years since, Jim considered how he could do his part to assist prospective Drexel students just like he had been helped. In 2013, Jim established the James L. Kochenour Endowed Scholarship Fund which supports civil engineering students, and he plans to build upon the Fund by including Drexel in his will.

“It doesn’t take much to get involved with the giving process: you don’t have to be a big-league player,” Jim says. Donors at any contribution level can “be part of helping make a difference in the lives of Drexel students.”

The co-op program “sealed the deal” for why Drexel was Jim’s top choice school. Jim’s time as a Drexel student then honed his vision for his career, although some co-op experiences went better than others. While gaining on-the-job training at the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters (now the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection), Jim spoke with a flood control worker who sat at his desk and made plans which often went on a shelf rather than being implemented. “I was not meant to spend eight hours a day in the office,” Jim says. “It was an advantage to find that out as a student – what I did not want to do with my career.”

Thanks to classes in the College of Engineering, Jim discovered his true professional path. He acknowledges Professor Thomas Harvey’s elective courses on highway and traffic engineering as really “lighting the spark” and demonstrating that “maybe this is an area I can make a career out of.”

Jim was fortunate to never be without a job throughout the entire course of his career, which spanned roles in the New Jersey Department of Transportation, Horner & Canter Associates and Arora and Associates, a highway and bridge design firm where he served as the first on-staff traffic engineer. The division he managed at Arora oversaw the company’s work on state highways and turnpikes, and his work there encompassed serving as the traffic consultant for four New Jersey municipalities – the highlight of his career.

Jim credits Drexel as having been important for his career, for him personally and for his family. As a result, Jim finds ample opportunities to give back: not only through his longtime annual giving to Drexel and his bequest, but also through his ten years of volunteer service as an Alumni Ambassador.

Jim has seen firsthand how passionate and intelligent the next generation of Drexel students is, both through the Alumni Ambassador program and from in-person and virtual meetups with his scholarship recipients. Jim believes that if he can “help a student toward their goals and help them lead a productive life,” then that’s all the recognition and satisfaction that he needs. “I can’t say enough about the importance of an education and how good it makes me feel to be part of that process.”

When meeting with these prospective and current students, Jim advises, “Enjoy the time you have at Drexel. It is an amazingly worthwhile experience.”

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