Gary E. Anderson '67
Gary Anderson, a leader in industry, has stood on the shoulders of giants—that is, his parents, whom he speaks of with fondness and admiration.
Anderson grew up in Ishpeming on Michigan’s iron range. His grandfather was killed in a mining accident, so his father had to quit school at age 15 and go to work in the mines to support the family. When his parents started their own family, they worked their hearts out for their children. His mother wanted to make sure he had a good education; his father wanted him to have a better life than he had. “They never had anything beyond the basics,” Anderson recalls, and he’s amazed yet at their sacrifice, so he could go to college.
Richard Berry '50
In spotlighting interesting, distinguished alumni, one would be remiss to leave out Richard "Dick" Berry, a Michigan Tech chemical engineering graduate from 1950. Berry, a native of London, Ont., among his numerous lifetime achievements, has managed a business with approximately $3.1 million annual revenue and has traveled to 27 countries on all seven continents.
Mr. Jerald A. Blumberg '60
Mr. Jerald A. Blumberg began his career at DuPont after earning a Chemical Engineering degree from Michigan Tech in 1960. He was named Director of the White Pigments and Mineral Products Division in 1983, was transferred to DuPont Japan Ltd. as President in 1985, and was named Vice President-International, responsible for all Asia Pacific Operations in 1987.
In 1990, he was named Senior Vice President-Employee Relations and later that year became Senior Vice President-DuPont Human Resources and DuPont . . .
Mr. James Brozzo '53
Mr. James Brozzo graduated from Michigan Tech with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1953. He joined the Dow Chemical Company immediately after graduation, where he began his career in Technical Service and Development. IN 1961 he moved to the Organic Chemicals Pilot Plants as a Development Engineer and Project Manager. After a short assignment in Economic Evaluation, he was promoted to Superintendent of Market Development Semiplant, and in 1969 supervised the Saran Development Plant. Mr. . . .
Elton J. Cairns '55, '55
Dr. Cairns graduated from Michigan Tech in 1955 with a double major in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. After receiving a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley he pursued an illustrious career at the research laboratories of General Electric, Argonne National Lab, General Motors, and, since 1978, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where he is currently the Director of the Energy and Environment Division with a joint appointment as Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. He has contributed more than 170 publications and 15 patents in the area of electrochemistry and energy conversion.
Michael and Marie Cleveland '82, '82
When Michael and Marie Cleveland look in the mirror these days, they see success, financial security, and achievement—as well as prospects for helping others go where they have been.
That wasn’t always the case with Marie. She started out in engineering but found the discipline was not the be-all and end-all for her. She switched to business, a decision that haunted her for years, because, back in her college days, in the early 1980s, there was an attitude among engineering students that other disciplines were an inferior lot. “You felt like a failure,” she recalls.
Dr. Dennis A. Clifford '63
Dr. Dennis A. Clifford a Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Houston and 1963 graduate of Michigan Tech, Dr. Dennis Clifford conducts research and teaches courses in Water Chemistry and Physical-Chemical Treatment Processes. He is a Professional Engineer with more than thirty years of experience in water and soil treatment focusing on the removal of inorganic and radioactive contaminants. Upon receiving his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Michigan Tech, Dennis worked for nine . . .
Randy Cortright '77, '86
A Farm Boy Grows Up to Grow Biofuels
Randy Cortright pursues a prospect that is both well-grounded and lofty: clean, carbon-neutral energy to supplant fossil fuels that are expensive, not easily available anymore, and dirty.
Mr. James C. Crowder '63
Mr. James C. Crowder, a native of Eau Claire, Michigan, earned a degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1963. While at Michigan Tech, he served as president of the AIChE Student Chapter and was a member of Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity. He joined Grain Processing Corporation after graduation in 1963. He worked in several areas of the company, including business development, production, engineering, environmental control, purchasing, safety, quality control, and product research and development. Mr. . . .
Mr. Donald Dixon '69
Mr. Donald Dixon, a native of Michigan, was awarded a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University in 1969. Following graduation, he worked as a Product Engineer and then a Sales Engineer for the Shell Chemical Company in Torrence, California. In 1971 he joined Gage Products in Ferndale, Michigan as Sales Engineer. He later held positions as Executive Account Manager and Vice President before being named President in 1991. In this latter capacity, he . . .
Mr. Herbert A. Doan '49
Mr. Herbert D. Doan is the grandson of Herbert H. Dow, the founder of the Dow Chemical Company. He attended Cornell University from 1941 until 1943 when he joined the U.S. Air Force. He returned to Cornell in 1946 to complete the five-year Chemical Engineering program in 1949. Following graduation he joined the Dow Chemical Company where he held various positions until being elected President and CEO in 1962- a position he held until his . . .
Dr. Octave Du Temple '48, '49, '96
Octave Du Temple, a native of the Copper Country, received bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from Michigan Tech in 1948 and 1949. His studies were interrupted by military service during World War II, when he taught flying and navigation. He also studied at Northwestern University, where he earned a master's degree in business administration in 1955.
Dr. David Edwards '83
Michigan Tech named Harvard biomedical engineer David A. Edwards '83 (chemical engineering) the winner of its highest honor, the Melvin Calvin Medal of Distinction. This is only the fifth time the University has awarded the prestigious medal since it was created in 1985.
Ms. Julie A. Fream '83
Ms. Julie A. Fream, a 1983 graduate of Michigan Tech with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, began her career with General Motors in 1983 as a manufacturing engineer. She held various sales and marketing positions until 1989, when she joined Ford and worked in program management and product planning for the company’s truck operations until 1993. In that year Julie went to TRW, where she held various sales and marketing positions until 1998, when she . . .
Mr. Dennis C. Garceau '69
Mr. Dennis C. Garceau, a native of Ishpeming, Michigan, received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Michigan Tech in 1969. He left that year for Decatur, Illinois to join the Archer Daniels Midland Company. After a brief apprenticeship, he served in various engineering and managerial positions in Illinois, South Carolina, Kansas, Minnesota, and France before returning to Decatur to manage the construction and start-up of its new corn wet milling plant and its entry into . . .
Mr. Robert R. Hackinson '58
Mr. Robert R. Hackinson, a native of Marquette, Michigan, earned a degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1958. While an undergraduate, he was a member of Phi Kappa Tau and Phi Lambda Upsilon. After graduation he joined Marathon Corporation, where he worked in research and development on packaging materials.
In 1965, Mr. Hackinson joined the Bemis Company at a subsidiary, Curwood Inc., a producer of specialty films for food packaging. In 1970, he became the Technical Director . . .
Mr. Charles F. Hansen '65
Mr. Charles F. Hansen earned a degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1965. After graduating, he joined the Grain Processing Corporation in Muscatine, Iowa as a Process Engineer. In 1966, he returned to his native town, Neenah, Wisconsin, as a Chemical Engineer with Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Soon after joining Kimberly-Clark he was transferred to South Carolina, where he participated in the construction and start up of a new tissue manufacturing facility. Subsequently, Mr. Hansen moved into . . .
Sally Heidtke (Pearson) '81
Sally Heidtke is a practiced engineer with a decidedly practical outlook. She has "thrived on making noticeable improvements to manufacturing systems and processes that are sustainable." She also is a heartfelt leader who has lived by this ethic: "Reach out to others for help, and to others who need help as well." Heidtke has fashioned that balance between the technical and soulful throughout her career.
Holly M. Hillberg '83
Holly M. Hillberg earned her BS in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University (1983); her MS in Electrical Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology, and completed the Executive Development Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and the Manufacturing Executive Program at the University of Michigan. She is Vice-President of Research & Development at Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Inc (a Johnson & Johnson company), responsible for the pipeline delivery of products to the marketplace and sits . . .
Mr. James N. Howell '65
Mr. James N. Howell graduated from Michigan Tech in 1965 with a Chemical Engineering degree and subsequently attended the Thomas Cooley Law School of Lansing in 1975. Upon graduation, Mr. Howell joined the Dow Corning Corporation where he was active in environmental engineering and regulatory areas. He joined the Environmental Regulations and Enforcement Division of the State of Michigan in 1972 and the National Steel Corporation in 1975 as Director of Environmental Affairs, Midwest Division.
Throughout his career, . . .
Carlos Jorda '71
He began his career as a process engineer at a refinery owned by Creole Petroleum Corporation, a subsidiary of Exxon, and he quickly moved into management. After the Venezuelan petroleum industry was nationalized, he worked in many technical and managerial positions for the state-owned oil company, Petroleum of Venezuela, which owns CITGO Petroleum.
Lou Anne Koerschner (Szewcyzk) '81
Lou Anne Koerschner graduated from Michigan Tech in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1985, she earned an MBA from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She is currently a Sales and Marketing Director for 3M, a Fortune 500 company in St. Paul, Minnesota.
After graduation, Lou Anne worked for Conwed Corporation, a St. Paul-based manufacturer, before accepting a position at 3M in 1984 as a development engineer working on film extrusion processes. After earning her MBA, she held several marketing positions supporting corporate marketing research, Thinsulate insulation products and respiratory protection products for industrial and health care applications. In 2002, she was among the first Master Black Belts assigned to Design for Six Sigma at 3M, and was subsequently promoted to the position of Director, Design Six Sigma, with responsibility for guiding the worldwide deployment of DFSS at 3M. In 2005, Lou Anne was appointed Director, Sales and Marketing, for the 3M Safety, Security and Protection Services business.
Susan M. Lewis '87
Susan is the Global Technology Center Director within the Dow AgroSciences (DAS) business of The Dow Chemical Company and is responsible for technology and improvements for the global DAS Operations. The global technology center is responsible for process research, improvement & capabilities, and capital investments for over 100 production facilities worldwide in order to achieve the business strategy.
Susan started in Dow Chemical after graduating with a Chemical Engineering degree from Michigan Tech in 1987. She has worked in . . .
Mr. Charles Lingelbach '39
Mr. Charles Lingelbach, a native of Oconto, Wisconsin, began his career at the Haas Brewing Company, Houghton in 1934, understudying his father, master brewer Charles J. Lingelbach, Sr. After earning a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1939, he worked in the fermentation cellars of Pabst Brewing Company in Milwaukee. In 1940 Pabst sponsored his attending Wallersteins Brewing Academy in New York City to earn a certificate in brewing chemistry.
After service in the Army Air Force, he became the . . .
Dr. Jim Mack '59, '00
Jim Mack has provided significant service to Michigan Tech since graduating with honors with a BS in Chemical Engineering in 1959. While a student, he was active with Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Rho fraternity, student government and Air Force ROTC. He also received an MBA from Western New England College and did graduate work in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toledo.
Robert Marshall '42
Marshall Family Supports Tech
A family with extensive ties to the Keweenaw is a major benefactor of Michigan Tech and its students.
The University received estate gift funds of nearly $700,000 from the family of Robert, Rex and Paul Marshall, brothers and business partners, to support the Marshall Family Endowed Scholarship Fund for engineering students who demonstrate financial need and scholastic achievement.
Linda J. McInally (Neal) '79
Linda McInally earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1979. Linda’s career with Dow Corning spanned 30 years centered on operations, with positions in process engineering, product development, finance and most recently, several roles in manufacturing leadership.
Thomas P. Meinz '69
A native of Escanaba, Michigan, Mr. Meinz was awarded his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1969. He then began what is now a 37-year career with the WPS Resources Corporation, serving as a power plant engineer and an engineer for the Kewaunee, Wisconsin nuclear plant start-up. From 1974-1986 he held the position of Director of Environmental Services, and in 1986 was named Director of Power System Regulatory Projects. In 1989 he became . . .
Mr. Peter J. Meyers Jr. '53
Mr. Peter J. Meyers, Jr. , born in Kingsford, Michigan in 1928, graduated from Kingsford High School in 1946. He joined the U.S. Navy afterward, eventually receiving in 1950 a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army-Chemical Corps. Pete received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Michigan College of Mining and Technology in 1953. He joined DuPont as a research engineer that same year, and over the years he was assigned to a . . .
Mr. George Miller '59
Mr. George Miller, a native of Monroe, Michigan, received a BS in Chemical Engineering in 1959. While at Michigan Tech, he was a member of Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity and active in the AIChE Student Chapter. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and assigned to Keester Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi and finally to Headquarters 8th Air Force in Springfield Massachusetts. Leaving the Air Force in 1962, Mr. Miller joined Stauffer Chemical . . .
Adrienne R. Minerick '98
Adrienne earned a bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude) in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1998 and went on to earn a MS and PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 2003. She is currently an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Michigan Tech.
Samantha Neirby '11
Samantha Neirby is about to go where mostly men have gone before. The US Navy has chosen Neirby—who is finishing her chemical engineering degree this spring at Michigan Technological University—to train to serve on a nuclear submarine. She will be just the third woman Naval officer ever recruited from a college or university to serve on a sub.
Mr. Charles J. Nelson '36
Mr. Charles J. Nelson, a native of Atlantic Mine, Michigan, earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in 1936. He was a member of Chi Epsilon. Mr. Nelson worked for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. until 1940 when he and his brother, Evan, formed Nelson Paint Company. Mr. Nelson developed the paint ball using C02 gas for propulsion; a technology used by the forest and cattle industries and for competitive paintball games. Mr. Nelson remains a . . .
Mr. Robert J. Ockun '63
Mr. Robert J. Ockun, upon his graduation from Michigan Tech with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1963, joined Hercules Powder Company in Applications Research in Wilmington, Delaware, becoming an authority on corrosion prevention coatings, specialty coatings for the US Military, and adhesion promoters for plastics. In 1967 he transferred to Chicago in plastic sales, eventually becoming Product Director for Hercules in 1982.
With the formation of HIMONT in 1983, a worldwide joint venture of Hercules and . . .
Mr. Bruce L. Oliver '63
Mr. Bruce L. Oliver was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1941. He later moved to Clinton, MI where he was Valedictorian of his high school class in 1959. He then attended Michigan Tech receiving his BS in Chemical Engineering in 1963.
Bruce joined the Dow Chemical Company immediately after graduation. Bruce spent his career at Dow Chemical in research and development working with such products as polypropylene, polyethylene, latex, Ziploc, Handi-Wrap and Saran Wrap. His first assignment . . .
Frank Pavlis '38
Frank Pavlis got his first lesson in leadership before he started grade school.
"I had the good fortune to be born on a farm," he tells the inaugural group of Michigan Tech students enrolled in the Pavlis Institute for Global Technological Leadership.
Mr. Donald E. Pfuehler '67
Mr. Donald E. Pfuehler currently President and CEO of Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation, Donald E. Pfuehler began his career at Dow Corning as a co-op student in Process Engineering. He held various positions in Process Engineering, Manufacturing, Facilities Engineering, and Economic Evaluation before being named manager of Facilities Engineering in 1983. In 1984, Don became manufacturing manager for Fluids, Resins, and Process Industries. In 1986, he was named manager of Personnel, and later became director of Human . . .
Anton J. Pintar '62
Dr. Anton J. Pintar was born in Painesdale in 1940, graduated from Jeffers High School in 1958, graduated from Michigan College of Mining and Technology (now Michigan Technological University) in 1962 with a B. S. in Chemical Engineering, and then graduated with a Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1968. He taught Chemical Engineering at Michigan Tech for 36 years retiring in 2002. He became a Michigan Tech Professor Emeritus of . . .
Ray Plewa '87
Ray Plewa '87, BS, chemical engineering, of Westerville, Ohio, came to Michigan Tech because of its reputation and because it was affordable. The latter was key because he had to pay his own way through school. "I was poor," he said. "I watched every penny."
Mr. W. Dean Robinson '46, '42
Mr. W. Dean Robinson was born in the middle of the Copper Country in Ahmeek, Michigan in 1921. He graduated from Michigan Tech in 1942 with a BS in Chemical Engineering. He served as Captain in the Army Corps of Engineers in overseas airport construction through 1945 when he returned to graduate study at Michigan Tech. He completed his MS in Chemical Engineering in 1946. Later, he completed an MS in engineering administration from Washington . . .
James L. Sanderson '73
James L. Sanderson, a native of Hanover, Michigan, earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1973 and, while working, obtained an MBA in long term finance from Central Michigan University in 1981. After graduating from Michigan Tech, he began his career at Dow Corning Corporation where he worked for 36 years before retiring in 2009.
Jim enjoyed a diverse career at Dow Corning, working first in process engineering, then in facilities engineering, before moving . . .
Major General Manila G. Shaver '55
Major General Manila G. Shaver was drafted into the army in 1950, volunteered for the airborne and was assigned to the 675th Field Artillery Battalion, 11th Airborne Division. He left the service in 1953 as a Sergeant and resumed his college career. He graduated from Michigan Tech in 1955 and was commissioned in the Field Artillery. After leaving active service, he stayed in the Army Reserves. His last assignment was Commanding General, 88th US Army . . .
Mr. Arthur R. Sigel '65
Mr. Arthur R. Sigel received a Chemical Engineering degree from Michigan Tech in 1965. He was a member of Sigma Rho fraternity and was active with the AIChE Student Chapter. Mr. Sigel joined Goodyear in 1965 as a Process Engineer. In 1969, he joined Michigan Chemical Company. In 1973 he relocated to El Dorado, Arkansas to become plant manager of Michigan’s bromine and brominated products facility. By 1979, he returned to Chicago where he became . . .
Thomas J. Smegal '57
Mr. Smegal received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from what was then the Michigan College of Mining and Technology in 1957, and graduated Cum Laude with a Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School in 1961. A specialist in providing expert witness testimony in intellectual property disputes, Mr. Smegal has been a frequent lecturer on intellectual property law and litigation at the Center for American and International Law and the Tuck School of . . .
Mr. Melvin J. Visser '59
Mr. Melvin J. Visser joined the Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan after graduating from Michigan Tech with a Chemical Engineering degree in 1959. He later earned a Masters degree in Chemistry from Western Michigan University and completed the Business Leadership Institute at the University of Michigan in 1974.
While at Upjohn Mr. Visser worked in Design Engineering, Chemical Process R&D, Production Technical Support, Fermentation Production Management, and Chemical Production Management before becoming Manager of Materials and Capacity . . .
Karen Wallace '88
Wallace started her career as a Process Engineer at Dow Corning Corporation. She left Dow Corning after two years to return to school full-time for her MBA. Following the completion of her MBA in 1992, Wallace joined ARCO Chemical Company as a Senior Financial Analyst before moving to Los Angeles to join the parent company, Atlantic Richfield.
Mr. Joseph M. Warren '59
Mr. Joseph M. Warren joined the 3M Corporation as a Produced Development Engineer in the reflective products division after earning a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in 1959. Mr. Warren worked on such products as reflective highway signs, industrial bar code systems, reinforced plastics, and vibrations dampers used in industrial products and in building construction. He was promoted to general manager, of the adhesives, coatings, and sealers division in 1981 and to divisions vice president in . . .
Mr. Hugh Winn '40
Mr. Hugh Winn was born in St. Louis Missouri in April 1918. He attended Michigan Tech and graduated with a BS in Chemical Engineering in 1940. Hugh, the son of a Civil Engineer, had three brothers, two of who attended Michigan Tech, one in Mining Engineering and the other in Electrical Engineering. Following graduation, Hugh joined Dow Chemical Company where he worked on the development of Saran.
During the Second World War, Hugh was an Assistant Professor of . . .
