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DAVE C. SWALM SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING E-NEWSLETTER

Volume 4, Number 1

September/October 2004

FROM THE DEPARTMENT HEAD.

Greetings from the warm and rainy south! One more big football game, and then we are done with football until next year. We are going with a large group of family and friends to the Egg Bowl in Oxford on Saturday, and are hoping for nice weather. The last time the Egg Bowl was in Oxford, it was about 30 F at game time, and we froze during the game. Last year, we were drenched here in Starkville as we watched Eli Manning carve up the MSU secondary. My prediction for this year - MSU 28 Ole Miss 10.

I am in my early 40’s, so generally, I still consider myself young. However, my idea of “youngness” has been severely challenged recently. As I have written before, I am an Assistant Scoutmaster with my son’s Boy Scout Troop in Starkville. We recently had a long car trip down to Pensacola, Florida. It was me, my two sons, and two other 14-year old Boy Scouts. The first argument was over music - for some reason they don’t seem to appreciate the great songs from the 70’s and 80’s - so we got to listen to one of Tim’s CD’s - in which we played the same song over and over and over again - accompanied by their singing (for anyone who might be interested it was a song by Usher). Occasionally, I would get in an occasional Bee Gees or Styx song, and was quickly reminded by the occupants of the car “how uncool” I am. The second blow to my youthfulness occurred earlier this month when I realized that one year from November 9, 2004 - my oldest son will be driving! All this will be taken care of a year from now, will not only will Tim be driving - but he can listen to Usher again and again and again….

I was at the MSU Men’s basketball game on Sunday afternoon against Nicholls State, and I believe we are going to be very good again this year. Make sure that you watch whenever the Bulldogs are on TV to cheer them on.

Please keep those alumni updates coming! Also, please continue to surf our WWW site occasionally to see pictures of what is happening at MSU.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the newsletter. Go Dawgs!

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AIChE STUDENT CHAPTER SELECTED ONE OF 14 BEST - AGAIN!

Once again this year, our AIChE student chapter has received an Outstanding Student Chapter Award. This is the fourth consecutive year our student chapter has received this national award. The citation for the Outstanding Student Chapter Awards reads, “Presented annually to those student chapters that show an exceptional level of participation, enthusiasm, program quality, professionalism, and involvement in the university and community”. There were a total of 14 universities selected for these awards including: BYU, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Kentucky, Kentucky-Paducah, MSU, Missouri-Rolla, NJIT, NC State, Northeastern, Oklahoma State, Penn State, South Carolina, and Texas A&M.

Congratulations to Laura Beth Dong (Past President), Harris Nelson (Current President), Atly Jefcoat (Chapter Advisory) and all of the other student officers who made this possible!

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LAURA BETH DONG RECEIVES WARD FELLOWSHIP AT NCSU

One of our most recent graduates (Laura Beth Dong, Class of ’04) was awarded a Randall L. and Susan P. Ward graduate fellowship. Laura Beth is working on her doctorate in chemical engineering at North Carolina State University. This Fellowship is a prestigious one-year award made to a top entering graduate student at NC State University. Only one of these Fellowships is awarded university wide. Congratulations to Laura Beth on this tremendous achievement!

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SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING ANNUAL REPORT AVAILABLE

The Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering has enjoyed another highly successful year. Highlights of this past year include significant national and local recognition for our faculty, a record number of doctoral students enrolled in our program, and our largest graduating class in several years.

Nationally, Dr. Atly Jefcoat and Dr. Rebecca Toghiani were both recognized this past year. Dr. Jefcoat was selected as the Outstanding AIChE Chapter Advisor, and Dr. Toghiani was selected to receive the American Society for Engineering Education Southeast Section Outstanding Teaching Award.

Several faculty were honored this past year for achievements in research and scholarship. Dr. Mark Zappi received the Bagley College of Engineering Research Award, and is the first chemical engineering faculty member at MSU to win this award. Dr. Rudy Rogers received the Sigma Xi Ralph E. Powe Research Award, and Ms. Emily Easterling won the Sigma Xi Support of Research Award. Additionally, Dr. Adrienne Minerick received a 2004 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities.

Three of our faculty were honored this past year for outstanding classroom teaching. Dr. Atly Jefcoat won a 2004 Alumni Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching at the Freshman and Sophomore level. Dr. Rebecca Toghiani was selected as the CHE Undergraduate Professor of the Year, and Dr. Hossein Toghiani was selected as the CHE Graduate Professor of the Year.

We had 61 undergraduate students finish B.S. degrees over the past year who were employed at 9 different companies and 7different graduate schools. Our scholarship program continues to play a critical role in attracting the best and brightest students to chemical engineering, with 89 students receiving some form of merit-based scholarship aid.

Our graduate program and externally sponsored research continue to grow rapidly. We had 31 students enrolled in our graduate program this past year, which is down from a high of 41 a year ago and 14 in 1998 - 99. Our doctoral program continues to grow, with an enrollment of 13 in the Fall of 2003, which is up from 2 students in 1998 - 99. Preliminary enrollment numbers for this fall have our doctoral program enrollment at 16 students. Our research expenditures were just under $2.2M last year, which is slightly down from our record $2.7M a year ago. In terms of degrees granted, we graduated 10 M.S. degrees this past academic year.

The School of Chemical Engineering continues to aggressively solicit external funds to assist us in growing the chemical engineering program. Eight companies provided funds to assist the School, up from five a year ago. The largest increase over the past couple of years has come in the number of alumni providing gifts to the School of Chemical Engineering, which has increased to 25 this past year. In terms of major gifts, the School received $100K from Dave Swalm for scholarships, the final installment of $300K for the Deavenport Chair from the Eastman Chemical Foundation, and $30,000 from Hunter Henry to fund the Hunter Henry Lecture Series.

If you would like a copy of the full annual report, it is available on the School of Chemical Engineering WWW site at: <http://www.che.msstate.edu/welcome/annual_report/>

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DAVE SWALM GIVES NEW SCHOLARSHIPS

(Story taken from a Press Release at: <http://www.ur.msstate.edu/news/stories/2004/swalmbrookhaven.asp>). Former Brookhaven resident Dave C. Swalm believes in giving back to his community and his alma mater.

Through a recent $5 million commitment to Mississippi State University, the 1955 chemical engineering graduate hopes to set an example for others while providing significant assistance for students from his hometown who are beginning their higher education.

He has established a scholarship fund for Brookhaven students choosing to major in any technical field at MSU. “I hope this will prompt others to make investments in the education and future careers of students from their own hometowns,” Swalm explained.

His latest scholarships will provide $2,500 annually to each qualifying student. The major gift also will assist the university in reaching its $400 million goal for the recently announced capital campaign titled “State of the Future: The Mississippi State Campaign.”

Founder of Texas Olefins, a Houston, Texas, manufacturer of petrochemicals, Swalm since 1988 has made donations to his alma mater totaling more than $20 million.

After having worked his way through MSU, he was hired by Dow Chemical following graduation. He subsequently held positions at Texas Butadiene and the Steuber Co. before investing his entire savings of $6,000 to found his own company in 1968.

He sold Texas Olefins for $500 million in 1996.

Among his earlier generosity to MSU was a $14 million gift that made possible a 100,000-square-foot chemical engineering building and a school of chemical engineering that now bears his name. Other contributions support scholarships, faculty development programs and laboratory equipment.

“Dave Swalm sets an example of generosity and public service that few can emulate,” said Dennis A. Prescott, MSU vice president of external affairs. “He has made lasting contributions to the quality of higher education at Mississippi State and to opportunities for students in Mississippi.

“With this most recent gift, Mr. Swalm challenges others to invest in the future of the students in their own communities,” Prescott added.

Through the Swalm Foundation he created in 1979, Swalm also has provided more than $30 million to support programs for early childhood education, victims of child abuse and survivors of domestic violence, among others.

Mississippi State recognized his many contributions by awarding him an honorary doctor of science degree in 2000.

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