There are hardly any chemical engineering alumni alive today who do not recall with fondness, and a hearty chuckle, Dr. John J. McKetta. His connection through the years to his students has been one of the most powerful in the College’s history. John regards his 5,800-plus alumni as his “boys” (and “gals” he will now add with a twinkle) and makes it a point to remember names, spouses, employers, etc, and to call individual alumni on their birthday’s.
John will celebrate both 61 years on campus and his ninety-second birthday this fall—a milestone that is not likely to go unnoticed by “his boys and gals.” More than a decade ago, in celebration of his eightieth birthday, his alumni launched the McKetta Challenge in an effort to raise $1 million as a match to the $1 million that John and his wife Pinky committed to the Department of Chemical Engineering. More than 1,623 gifts came in, totaling more than $1 million. John’s “boys and gals” had spoken.
Today’s Chemical Engineering Department is as dynamic as ever, perhaps more so with the onset of new disciplines such as Bio-Engineering, Advanced Materials, and Micro-Electronics. New faculty members are being hired—the total is now 26—and the department is a robust and active interface of students, faculty and researchers.
Chair Roger Bonnecaze, the T. Brockett Hudson Professor, is proud to be at the helm of his department during this time of “growth and renewal.” But walk down the fifth floor hallway any weekday morning and there are still echoes from the past, as the melodic sound of John’s “Ohh Honey’s” fill the space, just as they have for decades.
Now in the midst of a new 10-year, $10 million campaign, the Alumni Endowed Excellence Fund (AEEF), Chemical Engineering finds that their reliance on emeritus faculty such as John to help connect with the department’s alumni is not only a critical link to the past but also the way forward for the future.
At recent alumni gatherings in Houston, Austin and Dallas, Dr. John McKetta was the featured guest—the “show and tell item” for the party, he jokes. More than 50 alumni arrived at each event, all with open arms for a hug from their favorite former professor.
If you ask him, he will tell you that support from alumni is the only way that today’s Chemical Engineering Department will continue to flourish, as state support accounts for less than 16 percent of the College’s budget. He is not concerned about the dollar amounts that are coming in, as he knows that alumni will take care of their alma mater, but he “sure wants everybody to participate. Wouldn’t that be something?” he asks with a grin.
The AEEF, chaired by 1962 chemical engineering alumnus Bob Hermes, has raised just over $5 million toward their $10 million goal, three years into their 10 year effort. Annual gifts directly to Chemical Engineering and to the AEEF, designated to ChE through Friends of Alec, as well as named endowments established with gifts of $25,000 and above, all count towards AEEF’s goal.
