Beloved, legendary, inspirational—that’s how alumni and students describe Barrett Hazeltine. At 93 years old, he continues to teach and mentor students at Brown, now officially as Professor Emeritus since his “retirement” in 1997.
Perhaps what Hazeltine is best known for is teaching ENGN 9 for over 50 years—since 1974, when he helped establish it in collaboration with Joe Martino and Jamie Kiernan, who were both seniors at the time. An extremely popular engineering course that focuses on entrepreneurship and management, ENGN 9 has been described as a Brown classic.
Hazeltine’s rock star status has made his name a familiar one on campus. The Hazeltine Commons—a community gathering space within the Engineering Research Center—was named after him. And there are various awards named in his honor—like the Barrett Hazeltine Prize in Entrepreneurial Mentorship, the Hazeltine Innovation Awards, and the Hazeltine Grants in Engineering.