Chemical
engineering celebrates 50 years
by Kevin German, The
Daily Evergreen
The WSU chemical engineering department honored
five alumni with the Distinguished Alumni Award during the program’s
50th Anniversary banquet Wednesday night.
The recipients were Tim Clossey, Tom Graedel, Paul
Hohenschuh, Jim Lafferty and Brion Wise.
“I think this is terrific,” Graedel said. “If only
my classmates could see me now, they would be amazed.”
The official 50th anniversary is April
1. However, the department wanted to extend the celebration until Wednesday
because of WSU Golden Grad Day, said Richard Zollars, professor of chemical
engineering.
“Since Golden Grad Day is a celebration of the
50th and 60th class reunion, we thought it was
fitting to wait because it was our 50th anniversary,” Zollars
said.
More than 150 students, staff and alumni attended
the annual banquet held at the Hilltop Restaurant in Pullman. About
85 percent of chemical engineering students were in attendance, Zollars
said.
“It’s a good chance for the students to interact
with alumni working in the professional field,” Zollars said.
After the alumni were honored, a slide show was
shown on the history of the chemical engineering program.
The program began in 1916 as a department within
the College of Sciences. In 1950, one of the oldest programs in the
country became a separate department.
Counting the five recipients Thursday, only seven
alumni have been given the award in the department’s history, Zollars
said.
In 1991, the department honored O.H. Reaugh and
Eugene J. Voiland with Distinguished Alumni Awards.
“I felt there were other deserving people, but
I was very thankful,” said Reaugh, the oldest recipient, having graduated
in 1933.
The recipients of the award are selected by a board
of chemical engineering faculty.
“This is a great way to acknowledge success achieved
in business, or some other notoriety since graduation,” Zollars said.
“We wanted to make this celebration a special one.”
With the help and donations from Hohenschuh, the
department has set up an endowment from alumni donations with funds
close to $90,000.
“Since we only spend the interest, this is something
that’s going to go on forever,” Zollars said.
Since some of the budgets within the department
are small, Hohenschuh said it was a chance for him to donate money and
provide equipment for the students.
“I owe a lot to this program,” Hohenschuh said.
“This just gives me a chance to say thank you to WSU.”
The banquet ended with a group of students singing
a parody of the professors in the department.
With more than 50 returning alumni, Zollars said
he was very happy with the number of people in attendance and how the
banquet turned out.
“This day served as a time to look back on where
you’ve been and a chance to look where you’re heading,” Zollars said.
