Skip to main
University-wide Navigation

Edward T. Saad

B.S. Chemical Engineering 1974 M.S. Chemical Engineering 1975 Ph.D. 1977

Rebecca B. Liebert

B.S. in Chemical Engineering, 1990

Wayne Purdom

B.S. in Chemical Engineering, 1969 During Wayne Purdom’s 44-year career in the refining industry, he has become a recognized leader in applied process safety management, improving business unit performance, personnel selection and development, litigation and emergency response. In the United States and abroad, Mr. Purdom has consistently demonstrated leadership in both normal and abnormal situations, as well as entrepreneurial instincts that have increased business unit safety, efficiency and profitability.

Gregory R. Carmichael

M.S. in Chemical Engineering 1976Ph.D in Chemical Engineering 1979Gregory R. Carmichael is the Karl Kammermeyer Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at the University of Iowa. In his 37-year career at the University of Iowa, Carmichael has become a leading authority in the areas of environmental engineering, atmospheric science and air quality through numerous research initiatives, publications and awards.

Mark D. Whitley

M.S. in Chemical Engineering, 1975 When Mark Whitley began working for Shell Oil Company in 1975, he was sent to a fracturing job on the McAllen Ranch in south Texas. Since that day, Whitley has become widely known for revolutionizing the energy industry by the application of fracturing technology (popularly known as fracing or fracking) to shale formations across the United States.

William Todd Johnson

B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, 1979 When Todd Johnson graduated from Daviess County High School in 1972, he had no intention of going to college. After seven straight midnight shifts at a local aluminum plant, however, Johnson decided college was for him after all. At the University of Kentucky, Johnson became the first metallurgical engineering student to Co-op. His Co-op experience at Armco Steel resulted in Johnson receiving several job offers upon graduating in 1979.

Kevin L. Hobbs

B.S. in Chemical Engineering, 1988

Mary Beth Willis Hudson

Mary Beth Hudson is vice president of the Polysilicon Division and site manager for Wacker in Charleston, Tennessee. A proven leader with excellent interpersonal and communication skills, Hudson is responsible for all aspects of manufacturing, supply chain, business operations, sales and profitability of the Polysilicon Division throughout the North and Central American region. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1989 from the University of Kentucky.

Raj K. Krishnaswamy

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) in India, Raj Krishnaswamy wanted to pursue graduate studies that would lead to a career in materials research. He saw that his best opportunity lay with the University of Kentucky College of Engineering.

Harlen Wheatley

Born in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, Harlen Wheatley has spent nearly his entire life in the Bluegrass State. After relocating and spending much of his youth in Florence, Kentucky, Wheatley attended Northern Kentucky University, where he attained his degree in chemistry. He then migrated to full-time work at a chemical company in central Kentucky while completing a chemical engineering degree at the University of Kentucky.