Alumni

ChBE Alumni News

January 2012—May 2013

1950s

Jack Powers, ChE ’53, has been married to his wife, Patricia, for 51 years. The couple has two children and two grandchildren. He owned and operated E-KAN, Inc. in Topeka, Kansas for 26 years. The business was acquired by the CINTAS Corporation in 2006. Today, Powers is an active sponsor of the non-profit Trash Mountain Project, which is allied with Kids With A Hope. The Trash Mountain Project is currently building a complete Christian community to serve needs of children who live around the Santiago garbage dump in the Dominican Republic.

William H. Winn, ChE ’57, was honored in November on National Philanthropy Day in Denver as Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser of the year for his work with Friends of the Haven. He founded and currently serves as president of the organization, which supports a Fort Logan, Colorado-area early childhood education center for children of women with substance abuse and mental health disorders.

1970s

Amit Roy, MS ChE ’71, PhD ChE ’76, received the 2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Technology last fall. Roy is president and CEO of the International Fertilizer Development Center in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and has spent more than 30 years fighting the global war on hunger.

Laura Gimpelson, ChE ’79, was elected to the rank of fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. She is secretary of the Virtual Local Section and a past president of the South Texas Section. Gimpelson lives in Orlando with her husband, John Norris, Text ’67, MS IM ’79.

1980s

Cliff Hanna, ChE ’88, came out of retirement this past summer to play in the World Flying Disc Federation World Championship. The games took place in Italy and his team, the U.S. Grand Master’s, took home gold.

1990s

Kelli Booth, ChE ’93, cofounded SciGenesis, a biotechnology company that has developed camouflage face paint that delays the onset of third-degree burns. The prototype has been approved by the Department of Defense.

Chad Tarter, ChE ’98, and Jennifer Devens Tarter, IE ’99, welcomed twin daughters, Kate Aubrey and Brooke Finley, on September 5, 2011. They join big brother, Cole, 5, at home in Nashville.

Jennifer Stoudt Woodson, ChE ’99, and her husband, Damon, welcomed son Achilles Tobias on February 3, 2012. He joins sister, Persephone Kathleen, 6, and brother, Nicholas Perry, 4, at the family’s home in Macon, Georgia. Woodson is an adjunct business professor at Gordon College.

2000s

Billy Voelkel, ChE ’02, and his wife, Cathy, announce the birth of a daughter, Madison AnnMarie, on December 31, 2011. The family lives in Minneapolis where Voelkel is a quality & regulatory product manager for children’s cereal at General Mills. 

Benjamin Balogh, ChE ’03, and Catherine Balogh, PFE ’05, welcomed daughter Julianne Janine on January 19, 2012. The family resides in Florence, Kentucky.

Kira Kuck, ChE ’04, married Rory Hersch on November 5, 2011, in Santa Barbara, California. The couple lives in Manhattan, where Kuck works for Pfizer.

Jason Hicks, ChE ’07, received the Frank O'Malley Undergraduate Teaching Award. This annual award is given to one member of the Notre Dame faculty by the student government and is based upon outstanding service to students. Of the fifteen previous awardees, Hicks is the first recipient from the College of Engineering.

Rebecca Shiels Hicks, ChE ’08, accepted a position as the Assistant Director for Research Support for the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Notre Dame. 

2010s

Donifan Barahona, ChBE '10, was promoted to civil servant status at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center after serving two years as a postdoctoral researcher. He also received an adjunct position at the University of Maryland - Baltimore County where he will interact and work with graduate students. 

Michael Flanigan, ChBE ’10, and William Mehserle Jr., ChBE ’10, launched The Expressionary (theexpressionary.com), a company that helps people find personal gifts for their loved ones using a word recommendation engine. Flanigan and Mehserle have committed to donating 10 percent of corporate profits to partner charities.

Rich Moore, ChBE '11, was accepted into the twelfth Atmospheric Chemistry Colloquium for Emerging Senior Scientists, also known at ACCESS XII. The Purpose of ACCESS is to bring together young researchers in atmospheric chemistry and representatives of the principal federal government agencies that fun atmospheric chemistry research to engage in scientific discussion and interaction. ACCESS XII will take place July 26-27, 2013, at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

IN MEMORIAM

1940s

James Walter Heatwole, ChE ’40, of Daleville, Virginia, on October 21, 2011. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army from the Georgia Tech ROTC unit in 1940. He served in World War II in Northern Ireland, England, North Africa and Italy, and later served as an ROTC instructor at the University of Minnesota and on the Army General Staff in Washington, D.C., with additional duty in Korea and Germany. Among other honors, he received the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star. He retired in 1972 as a colonel, and then served as town manager of Narrows, Virginia, for 10 years.

Gordon C. Hicks, ChE ’42, of Sheffield, Alabama, on December 20, 2011. He was employed by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Robert McKinley Stafford, Jr., ChE '42, of Charlotte, North Carolina, on January 5, 2013. After joining the US Army during World War II, he attened Georgia Tech as a co-op student and recieved a BS degree in chemical engineering. Here he met his wife, Jerry, with whom he has three children. Upon graduation, he served three years in the Army Corps of Engineers and then worked with Johns-Manville Corporation in New Jersey for nineteen years. In 1964, he started an engineering consulting firm that specializes in commercial roofing and waterproofing, and in 1977, he retired from the reserves with the rank of Major.

Maywood W. Chesson Jr., ChE ’48, of Lakeland, Florida, on December 24, 2011. After serving in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant, he began his professional career with American Cyanamid in Lakeland, Florida. Chesson became plant manager in 1962, and in 1966 he left to join Occidental Chemical in Lake City, Florida as vice president and plant manager. Later, he joined Jacobs Engineering and retired from the company in 1997, after spending many years completing projects in China, Tunisia, and in numerous other international locations. 

Nelson August Stumpe Jr., ChE ’49, MS ChE ’50, of Borger, Texas, on February 1, 2012. He enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942 and served in the 66th Airdrome Squadron during World War II. His squadron was one of the first units to storm Omaha Beach in Normandy in 1944. During his European tour of duty, he received several commendations, including an EAMATO ribbon with three bronze stars for Normandy, North France, and Air Offensive Europe campaigns. After completing his service in the military, Stumpe attended Georgia Tech and received BS and MS degrees in chemical engineering. He was subsequently hired by Phillips Petroleum in 1950 and worked at their Borger, Texas rubber pilot plant. He was later transferred to Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1957, and he continued to work with the company for 33 years until his retirement in 1984.

R. Conway “Connie” LeCraw, Phys ’49, of Hilton Head, South Carolina, on November 15, 2011. He was the son of a former Atlanta mayor and served in the Pacific theatre of World War II as a corporal in the Signal Corps. From 1955 until his retirement in 1986, he worked at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, where he was granted 35 U.S. patents. Among others, he is survived by his brothers, Veazey, ChE ’49; Julian, IM ’52; and Rupert, ME ’56.

1950s

Donald Arthur Campbell, ChE ’51, of Houston, on October 2, 2011. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and had a long career with Exxon.

Herschel Willcox Godbee, ChE ’52, PhD ChE ’63, of Cuyahoga, Ohio, on October 28, 2011. He worked at X-10/ORNL from 1958 to 1994. Among others, he is survived by his son Dan Godbee, ME ’76, MS ME ’87, MS IE ’89.

Ricardo Louis Togna, ChE ’53, of Chester, Virginia, on January 14, 2012. He retired from Allied Chemical after 40 years of service and was a Little League baseball coach in the Enon, Virginia area for many years. While at Georgia Tech, Togna was a proud member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. 

Thomas Hamilton “Ham” Traylor, ChE ’54, of Lincolnshire, Illinois, on March 26, 2012. Among others, he is survived by a brother, Robert Charles Traylor, ME ’58.

1960s

Patrick P. Garvin, ChE ’61, of Bowie, Maryland, on October 11, 2011. He served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Garvin also worked at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for 35 years and was awarded the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal in 1978.

Joseph E. Watts Jr., ChE ’66, of Round Lake, Illinois, on May 8, 2011. He was a district sales manager for Voith.

1980s

Jean Finison León, ChE ’80, of Warner Robbins, Georgia, on November 21, 2012. Upon graduation, she worked as a fire protection engineer for Kemper Insurance, an electronics engineer at Robbins Air Force Base, and an electrical engineer for the Mercer Engineering Research Center. León, who was also active in her community, was a wife and mother of four.

Alexandra Y. Cleary, ChE ’82, of Duluth, Georgia, on December 30, 2011. Although she was unable to win her personal battle with cancer, Cleary’s work at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division may help spare others a similar fate. Over the last twenty years she played a key role in the development and implementation of one of the nation's best hazardous site cleanup programs. In addition to numerous family members, she is survived by her husband, William Cleary, EE ’82.