They're sort of fascinated by the curriculum that Thayer School offers - having everything integrated into one engineering program. Lori got the job. They happened to be looking for what I was doing, and this happened to be a place where I wanted to be. It's worked out great. Now an assistant professor at UVA, Lori was chosen last spring by faculty and students for the Department of Civil Engineering's first Annual Teaching Award.
Research is a bigger part of the evaluation process.
I think that's true at every major research university. But for me, teaching is the reason I do this, as opposed to research for a major company. Clearly, that changed after a couple of years in industry. I clearly preferred the technical aspects of my job. After her stint at ABB Combustion Engineering in Connecticut, she headed off to grad school in civil engineering.