Dr. Hilgers is a professor, administrator, and entrepreneur whose wide range of experiences brings both depth and maturity to his scholarship and leadership abilities. As an alumnus of Missouri S&T, he has degrees in both science and engineering. He completed his PhD at Brown University in Applied Mathematics with a specialization involving Engineering Mechanics. He has served S&T as lead during an AACSB accreditation effort, Associate Dean, Associate Chair, Faculty Senate President, director of a research center, manager of three laboratories, chair of key campus committees, representative to the Inter-campus Faculty Council in Columbia, and adviser to a Greek organization. To achieve his duties, he wrote accreditation plans and reports, drafted strategic plans, negotiated difficult deals among constituent groups, promoted advancement to external stake holders, taken the Leadership Development Program, interacted with the registrar, organized the relocation of physical facilities, chaired internal reviews of campus solicitations, and oversaw an international e-Learning experience.

Dr. Hilgers joined the Missouri S&T faculty as a visiting assistant professor of mathematics and statistics in 1992. He has served as an assistant professor of mathematics and computer science, an associate professor of computer science and information science and technology, and a professor of information science and technology. He earned two Faculty Excellence Awards, Outstanding Teaching Awards in three separate years, the Dean’s Teaching Scholar Award in 2005, and the College of Arts, Sciences, and Business 2021 Faculty Teaching Award.