Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--An award-winning veteran faculty member at Louisiana Tech University is the new holder of the Hunter W. Henry Chair in Chemical Engineering at Mississippi State.
Bill B. Elmore recently joined the Bagley College of Engineering after 15 years at the Ruston, La., institution. An associate professor in the Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, he replaces the recently retired Irvin Atly Jefcoat.
"We are excited about Dr. Elmore joining the faculty of our engineering school," said college Dean Kirk H. Schulz. "His enthusiasm for teaching will encourage our chemical engineering students towards continued academic excellence.
"Dr. Atly Jefcoat set a very high standard of excellence for the Hunter Henry Chair holder, and I am confident Dr. Elmore will set an even higher standard for the chair," Schulz added.
Elmore earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering at the University of Arkansas, the latter in 1990.
While at Louisiana Tech, Elmore was honored as outstanding faculty adviser for the College of Engineering and Science in 1999. He served the university as academic director for a variety of programs that included biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, industrial engineering, civil engineering, construction engineering technology, and geosciences.
In 2003, Elmore received the Faculty Professionalism Award of the Louisiana Engineering Foundation, which works to advance the state's engineering profession. Other tributes while at Louisiana Tech included the R. William Upchurch Distinguished Associate Professorship and the College of Engineering's Outstanding Service and T.L. James Outstanding Teaching achievement awards.
"I was very excited at this stage of my career to have the opportunity to re-engage fully with student mentoring through scholarship and research," Elmore said of his MSU appointment. "The warm reception my family and I have received from everyone at Mississippi State and at Starkville has been a wonderful affirmation of this move."
Hunter Henry, a Canton native and 1950 MSU graduate, is the former executive vice president and a former member of the board of directors of Dow Chemical Co. He also served as president of Dow Chemical USA and Dow Brazil prior to his retirement.
Mississippi State's 1988 national alumnus of the year and a major university benefactor, Henry endowed the MSU chemical engineering chair in 1997. The purpose of the chair is to promote the importance of teaching and mentoring students.
Henry and his wife Lila also established the Henry Endowment Fund for Engineering, which provides Henry scholarships for 25 students in mechanical and chemical engineering.
He was lead donor for construction of what later was named the Hunter Henry Center, a distinctive $12 million glass-and-stainless-steel structure that houses the university's foundation and alumni association offices.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact Julie Lemons at (601) 325-8098 or jlemons@engr.msstate.edu.