Contact: Phil Hearn
Top row, left to right, Billie Ball, Virginia Carron, and James Dow. Middle row, Mohammad Hosni, Harry James, and Curry Knight. Bottom row, Marilyn Martin, Prentice McKibben, and James Trimble.
Nine Mississippi State alumni who carved out successful careers after graduating from the Bagley College of Engineering are being honored as 2004 Distinguished Fellows.
Leaders in business and education, they were recognized for life accomplishments during a Thursday night [Feb. 26] banquet marking National Engineers Week (E-Week) on campus. Each honoree received a plaque and the personal thanks and congratulations of college dean A. Wayne Bennett.
"National Engineers Week is a celebration of the contributions engineers make to our society," said Bennett. "For the Bagley College, it is an opportunity to highlight the accomplishments of our alumni."
Selection of distinguished fellows began in 1991 when the college recognized 100 graduates as part of its centennial celebration of engineering education at MSU. The program was reborn in 1999 with the addition of 10 new fellows and has continued each year since during the E-Week observance.
"They are chief executive officers and presidents of major corporations, lawyers, physicians, and leaders in education, research, government and politics," said Bennett. "They are role models for our students, now and for future generations to come."
The 2004 Distinguished Fellows include:
--Billie J. Ball of Starkville, professor and department head emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at MSU. A faculty member from 1964 until his retirement in 1992, he received bachelor's degrees in chemical and electrical engineering in 1956, and a master's degree in electrical engineering in 1959. He completed a doctorate in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University in 1962.
--Virginia L. Carron of Atlanta, Ga., a 1989 biological engineering graduate who went on to earn a juris doctorate degree, with distinction, from the Emory University School of Law. Practicing in the Georgia capital, she focuses on patent and trademark litigation and counseling as a partner with Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett and Dunner LLP, one of the world's largest intellectual property law firms.
--James W. Dow of Pelham, Ala., who received bachelor's and master's degrees in aeronautical engineering in 1970 and 1972, respectively. Recognized as an international authority on implementations of computer-assisted drafting and manufacturing procedures, he is president and chief executive officer of Aerotec. The company is a provider of high-quality, airborne, laser-scan surveys, digital imagery topographic mapping and three-dimensional engineering models.
--Mohammad H. Hosni of Manhattan, Kan., professor and department head of mechanical and nuclear engineering at Kansas State University and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Hosni earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from MSU in 1989 after receiving bachelor's and master's degrees in the field from Southern and Louisiana State universities, respectively.
--Harry L. James of Canton, deputy executive director and chief engineer for the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The 1976 civil engineering graduate joined MDOT as a bridge designer in 1982 after working in the private construction industry and later for a consulting engineering firm.
--Curry Knight of Huntsville, Ala., a 1982 computer science graduate who, with others, founded DiscoveryCom in 1996 to design, test, manufacture, and install tools for the telecommunication industry. After the company was sold to Nokia in 2001, Knight became a managing partner in Discovery Ventures LLC, an investment company he launched with other DiscoveryCom co-founders.
--Marilyn Martin of Kingsport, Tenn., a former longtime employee in the financial field who earned a chemical engineering degree 1992. She now serves as operations manager for Eastman Chemical Co.'s Voridian Division, a manufacturer of acetate processing-fiber ester flake. Martin also is an advisory board member for the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, a major unit of the MSU engineering college.
--Prentice McKibben, also of Kingsport, a 1973 industrial engineering graduate who is Eastman's vice president to the chairman and the company's chief executive officer. McKibben, who also completed a master's degree in business administration at MSU in 1974, heads special projects involving multiple organizational units. He has worked with Eastman since completing his graduate degree.
--James M. Trimble of Houston, Texas, a 1971 petroleum engineering program graduate now chairman of the board at Tri-Union, an exploration and development company with operations in Texas, California and the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier, he served as the company's president and chief executive officer.