How GU Alum and Professor Jim Weston Found Purpose and Passion After Loss

For alum and longtime mechanical engineering lecturer Jim Weston (’77), seeing the current and ever-evolving Gonzaga campus is something that brings him joy.

The quad outside the engineering buildings is the same quad he traversed as a student in the 70s. College Hall (then called the Admin Building) has the same classic staircase, even the same smell, he says.

Attending Gonzaga in the late ’70s, the Spokane native got his two-year degree in business at Spokane Falls Community College before transferring to Gonzaga to study mechanical engineering. His father was also a GU alum (’42) and a mechanical engineer.

“When I got to Gonzaga, it already felt like my home," he says. "I really felt like I had arrived at the right college, and the right degree program."

Finding a love for algebra, trigonometry, calculus and later thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer, Weston had three job offers to choose from upon walking at graduation: General Motors (GM), DuPont and Battelle Northwest. He chose GM, and made the 2,100-mile drive to Lansing, Michigan, where he would begin his career as an automotive engineer, and make a life for himself and his first wife, Eleanor.

He did, however, always want to come back to Spokane and upon his retirement in 2008, he did just that.

Then in 2014, his wife passed away after several years of battling cancer. In the last few months of her life, Weston became her primary caregiver, a role that carried a lot of emotional weight.

"After she passed away, I felt like I was operating in a quite fog for a while," he shares. "I needed something to engage in to help me move past that."

He once again found Gonzaga, and his return to campus gave him purpose when he needed it most.

He began teaching in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, first in a lab course, then full time, as he simultaneously finished a certificate program in Computer Aided Design at Spokane Community College.

Since starting as a professor in 2016, Weston has taught a number of classes and served as the club advisor for the Society of Automative Engineers Baja Team, a student-run competition group that designs, fabricates and builds an off-road single-seat racecar from scratch each year. His favorites courses have been Introduction to Mechanical Design (and the associated lab), and Vehicle Dynamics − a senior elective course he created.

Weston’s influence has extended far beyond the classroom. As a longtime member of the SEAS Advisory Council, he has helped steer conversations about the future of engineering education at Gonzaga. Jennifer Shepherd, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, says Weston’s guidance has been instrumental in strengthening connections across the school.

Weston’s investment in Gonzaga also extends well beyond the time and expertise he has shared. His philanthropic support spans nearly five decades, beginning with his first gift in 1977 and continuing through the establishment of the James and Eleanor Weston Engineering Excellence Endowed Fund, along with a planned gift through his will. Together, these expressions of generosity reflect both his gratitude for the opportunities Gonzaga gave him and his desire to create opportunities for generations of students who will follow in his footsteps. For Weston, giving back is more than an investment in Gonzaga’s future; it is an enduring expression of a relationship that has shaped his own.

Now, 10 years after beginning his career at Gonzaga, he is stepping into retirement, at least partially.

“I like to say I'm retired, kind of, sort of, because I will still be teaching Vehicle Dynamics this fall, and I hope to keep this part-time role as an adjunct for a while,” Weston adds.

When the 2026-2027 school year begins, he will still be walking in the same halls he walked fifty years earlier, older now, but somehow still circling back to the beginning. His advice for the younger generation as they think about going into the engineering field, or any field, is simple: Do what you love.

“If someone doesn’t love engineering, they won’t be able to stand the long hours necessary to be successful," he explains. "And this applies to everything. One of the most important decisions we make is what we choose for a profession – choose what you love."