Who is Dr. John McKetta?

If he were given a chance to live his life over, Dr. John J. McKetta would choose exactly the same path, and no wonder. It is a path that has taken him from the Pennsylvania coal mines to the energy and environmental advisory boards of five United States presidents. Along the way he has found time to be a boxer, an actor, a pilot and the leader of a band. This incredible man, who spoke only his parent's native Ukrainian until he entered the first grade, may well be the most respected and best known chemical engineer in the world today. Yet, above all else, Dr. McKetta is a devoted family man and fierce champion of engineering education.

A 1937 Tri-State chemical engineering graduate, John McKetta earned his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1946. In the same year, he joined the University of Texas at Austin, where his positions have included professor of engineering, dean of the College of Engineering and executive vice chancellor of the University of Texas system. He currently holds the Joe C. Walter Chair in Chemical Engineering at Austin.

Dr. McKetta's achievements and awards are numerous. Printing has been completed on 63 volumes of his 68-volume "Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing Design," and it is being translated into Chinese and Spanish. He serves on the boards of directors for six companies and has earned The Lamme Award as the "Outstanding Engineering Educator in the United States." In 1995, on his 80th birthday, the University of Texas at Austin changed the name of its chemical engineering department to "The John J. McKetta Center for Excellence in Chemical Engineering." On April 17 of this year, for his "many contributions to the reputation and prestige of the University of Texas at Austin," he received the Presidential Citation from the university's Board of Regents.

Never forgetting his roots, Dr. McKetta has remained a very loyal and special son of Tri-State, where he has served as a trustee since 1957. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Tri-State in 1967, and both Tri-State and the University of Michigan have named him a distinguished alumnus. Today, with great pride, Tri-State University announces that it is now the home of the Dr. John J. McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering.

Dr. McKetta and the woman who stands at the forefront of his world, his wife of 54 years, Helen "Pinky" McKetta, reside in Austin, Texas. They are the proud parents and grandparents of four children and eight grandchildren.

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