By Paige Taylor

A lot happened in 1958.  The first U.S. satellite launched into orbit, Elvis Presley began his military service and Hans Gesund joined UK’s faculty ranks.

In his 52nd year at the university, Hans Gesund is a professor of architecture and engineering in the colleges of Design and Engineering.

Originally from Austria, Gesund and his family moved to the U.S. when he was 12 years old to leave the somber spirit of the country.

“I didn’t like the atmosphere after Hitler took it over, or my parents didn’t,” Gesund said.

Gesund grew up in New Haven, Conn., and after high school, attended Yale University in 1946 and earned a bachelor’s degree in four years.  After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Gesund returned to Yale to work on his doctorate and teach full time in the university’s civil engineering department.

Gesund, who married in 1951 and has two children, was offered a job at UK while finishing his doctorate at Yale.

When traveling to Lexington for his interview in April 1958, Gesund took a train from Connecticut because no planes were flying out of a storm that had dumped 22 inches of snow.

“Nothing was flying, not even the birds,” Gesund said.  “But here, it was 70 degrees … and the birds were singing.  I called my wife and said, ‘We’re coming (to Kentucky).’ ”

After taking the position at UK, Gesund remained in the Army Reserves.  When the Vietnam War began, Gesund was not only unsure of the U.S.’s involvement, but also his own.

“I was ready to go to Vietnam if called to active duty … but I didn’t volunteer to leave my wife and kids,” Gesund said. “My feelings about U.S. involvement were mixed. I didn’t want us to support a corrupt regime, but condemning millions of people to life under a communist dictatorship by running away also didn’t appeal to me.”

Since starting at UK when it only had 8,000 students, Gesund has served as a joint appointee to the faculty of the College of Architecture and the faculty of the College of Design’s Historic Preservation Department, where he continues to serve.  Gesund does not teach any of the Historic Preservation Department’s courses, but has directed a number of master’s students’ projects.

Gesund also participated in the launch of the Civil Engineering Department’s doctorate program.

For almost 52 years, Gesund has stayed at the university.  However, he said his reason for staying includes more than the buildings that stand on campus.

“It’s the students … I enjoy my students, my faculty and staff colleagues,” Gesund said.  “I don’t believe in messing with what works.”