Former chemical industry exec to get MSU honorary doctorate

Contact: Joe Farris

A 1955 Mississippi State graduate who built from scratch one of the nation's largest privately held petrochemical companies will receive an honorary doctorate from the university.

Dave C. Swalm, an engineer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, will be awarded the honorary doctor of science degree during May 13 commencement ceremonies. The Houston, Texas, resident is formerly of Brookhaven.

Texas Olefins, the company Swalm founded in 1968 using his entire savings of $6,000, became the largest butadiene manufacturer in the United States by 1996, the year he sold the company for $500 million. Butadiene is a gas used in rubber and paint production.

The Swalm Foundation he created in 1988 has donated more than $24 million to help battered women, abused children and the homeless. Swalm, a chemical engineering graduate, also is a major benefactor of his alma mater.

"Dave Swalm's life is a classic American success story and an outstanding example of the careers that have been launched at The People's University," said MSU President Malcolm Portera.

"He excelled in a complex and competitive business because he combines great technical expertise, business skills and initiative. He has made a second career of helping others because he is a man of deep compassion and generosity."

The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning approved the honorary doctorate at its February meeting. MSU awarded its first three honorary degrees in May 1999.

Swalm was born in Whittier, Calif., and graduated from Brookhaven High School. He supported himself through high school and worked for a year at a paper mill before entering Mississippi State in 1951.

After working his way through college, he worked for Dow Chemical, Texas Butadiene, and the Steuber Co. before starting his own company in the late 1960s.

His $2 million gift to Mississippi State in 1988 was at the time the largest single contribution in university history and helped lay the foundation for the school's first major gifts campaign.

Swalm's gifts now total approximately $20 million for scholarships, faculty development, lab equipment, and a new chemical engineering building. The scholarship endowment he created assists approximately 100 students.

Swalm was the university's national alumnus of the year in 1992. He and his wife, Beth, are the parents of four children.