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.
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.
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.
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, 1988
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.
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.
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.
In her 35-year career at Procter & Gamble, Lisa Ernst has served as engineer, director of research and development, and vice president of research and development for oral care, hair care, personal health care and pet care. This year, she is retiring as the senior vice president of Research and Development for Oral Care and the consumer health sector leader of Research and Development.
Howard F. Moore has been involved in petroleum processing and synthetic oils research for Marathon Petroleum Company (MPC) since 1974, when he represented the University of Kentucky in a National Science Foundation-funded partnership between UK and Ashland Oil to develop a coal pyrolysis unit.
University of Louisville
