Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame to Hold 2004 Ceremony

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame will induct five individuals and honor two corporations/institutions during a ceremony on Feb. 21, 2004, at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear.

The State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame was founded by proclamation of the governor in 1987 to honor, preserve and perpetuate the outstanding accomplishments and contributions of individuals and corporations/institutions and projects that have brought and continue to bring significant recognition to the state.

Joining the 92 individuals already inducted into the Hall of Fame will be:

Chester C. Carroll, president of Lyman Ward Military Academy, began his electrical engineering career as an Auburn University professor in 1965. During his 17-year tenure at Auburn, Carroll served as vice president of research and dean of engineering. In 1986, he returned to his alma mater, The University of Alabama, to teach as a Cudworth Professor. On retiring from UA in 1993, he had most recently served as inaugural holder of the Drummond Endowed Chair of Computer Architecture.

Before receiving his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at UA, Carroll served in the army in the 1950s. After his tenure at the Capstone, he assumed such posts as director of Resident Scientist Program at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, chair of the USAF Aero-propulsion Laboratory’s High Power Advisory Group, and senior research scientist at the Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal.

Carroll has been elected repeatedly to the top posts in the Southeastern Center for Electrical Engineering Education as well as in several regional societies for research administrators. Because of his successful teaching, dedication to students and continuing ground-breaking research, Carroll was elected a Distinguished Engineering Fellow by UA in 1987, and was later elected a Fellow of the IEEE in 1990.

Carroll is also the holder of numerous patents on embedded architecture and highly parallel-embedded architecture using coefficient polynomial arithmetic.

T. Michael Goodrich, chairman, president and CEO of BE&K Inc., has combined his civil engineering and law knowledge together to become one of the top leaders in the construction industry.

With his engineering degree from Tulane University and law degree from The University of Alabama, Goodrich started with BE&K in 1972 as the company’s legal counsel and assistant secretary.

Under Goodrich’s leadership, BE&K has developed pathways for minorities and women in all aspects of the engineering and construction industry, with minority-student internships and a construction camp for young women. Also, Goodrich helped to develop BE&K’s School of Industrial Construction, designed to teach high-school students construction skills, which has given BE&K recognition in Fortune and Working Mother magazines.

Goodrich has made many contributions to the construction industry including his efforts to develop the Associated Builders and Contractors. He also has served as a member of the Construction Industry Institute Board of Advisors, a director of the Construction Industry Round Table, and a trustee of the National Building Museum.

Goodrich has served his Alabama community as Mountain Brook city councilman, and as the director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The Boy Scouts of America recognized Goodrich’s contributions by awarding him the Silver Antelope Award in 2003.

Oliver D. Kingsley Jr., an engineering physics graduate of Auburn University, continues to contribute to the nuclear power industry as the president and chief operating officer of the Exelon Corp., and president and CEO of Exelon Generation, the largest nuclear fleet in the United States and third largest in the world.

Kingsley is a member of the board of directors of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, the Executive Committee of the Nuclear Energy Institute, and the Council of Advisors of the World Nuclear Association. He also serves on the Auburn University Alumni Engineering Council.

In June 2000, he received the Walter Zinn Award of the American Nuclear Society, recognizing his leadership in nuclear power. In 2003, Kingsley was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, and he received the World Association of Nuclear Operators’ Nuclear Excellence Award.

After graduation in 1966, Kingsley joined the United States Navy Nuclear Submarine Force and later held various positions at Southern Co. Kingsley’s other leadership positions include vice president of nuclear operations for Middle South Utilities in 1985, chief nuclear officer at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1988, president and chief nuclear officer of Unicom/ComEd in 1997, and president and chief nuclear officer of Exelon Nuclear in 2000.

Forrest S. McCartney earned a spot in aerospace history through dedication to space programs. Retired Gen. McCartney’s 35-year Air Force career culminated in assignment to NASA as director of the Kennedy Space Center.

McCartney received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1952, now Auburn University, and a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. With the Air Force Space Systems Division, he became deputy for space communications systems, vice-commander and commander of the Ballistic Missile Office, and then vice-commander and commander of the Space Systems Division.

In 1986, McCartney became director of the Kennedy Space Center where he presided over nearly 20 shuttle launches and landings with a $1.3 billion annual budget. Brought there by the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger, McCartney was a guiding force in return-to-flight procedures. After retiring in 1991, he became vice-president for launch operations at Lockheed Martin Astronautics, and later was re-summoned by NASA to serve on the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. He is now on the Stafford-Covey Task Group overseeing NASA’s efforts to return to flight from the Space Shuttle Columbia accident.

McCartney’s performances garnered three Distinguished Service Medals and two Legion of Merit decorations. He received a Presidential Rank Award and belongs to the Air Force Missile and Space Pioneers Hall of Fame. McCartney’s other awards include the National Geographic Society’s Gen. Thomas D. White Space Trophy, the National Space Club’s Goddard Memorial Trophy, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ von Braun Award for Excellence in Space Program Management.

Douglas L. McCrary spent his career in the electric power industry bringing innovations which strongly benefit Alabama electric consumers.

After receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Auburn University, he worked through many engineering jobs and challenges and was promoted to engineering assistant manager at Alabama Power in 1967. In 1971, he was appointed Alabama Power’s vice president for construction. He later became Southern Company Services’ executive vice president and CEO of Gulf Power in Florida where he retired in 1994.

Since McCrary’s 41-year career with Southern Co., owner of Alabama Power and Pensacola-based Gulf Power, he currently serves as president-emeritus of Gulf Power Co.

Because of McCrary’s hard work and dedication to engineering, he has received several awards including Auburn’s Outstanding ME Alumnus Award, the Silver Knight of Management from the National Managers Association and Industrial Leader of the Year from the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce.

The corporations/institutions to be inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame will be:

COLSA Corp. began in the garage of an ordinary Huntsville home in 1980. Within seven years, this provider of electrical engineering support to military and commercial clients had been named the nation’s best minority-owned high-tech firm.

Started by Puerto Rican immigrants Francisco and Carmen Collazo, COLSA Corp. was one of the first small businesses to make the top 100 R&D testing and evaluation firms nationally, and the company now boasts 700 employees and $90 million in annual revenue.

In 1988, COLSA Corp. was named National Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year. It was the first contractor in the award’s history to be nominated independently by three district agencies: the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command (SMDC), Army Missile Command (AMCOM), and Army Air Defense Artillery School.

COLSA Corp. was awarded the James S. Cogswell Award by the Defense Security Service in 1997, one of only four firms in the Southeast and 50 nationwide to receive this award.

The company received ISO 9001 certification in 1999 and the following year received an American Business Ethics Award. In 2001, the property management team of COLSA Corp. received the Silver Award from the Alabama Productivity Center.

COLSA Corp. has endowed scholarships at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and at Auburn University and is a generous contributor to the Hispanic College Fund.

Vulcan Materials Co. is the nation’s largest producer of construction aggregates and a leader in the production of other construction materials. The company is also a major manufacturer of chemicals with its chemical branch called Vulcan Chemicals.

Based in Birmingham, the S&P 500 company has supplied materials to such projects as O’Hare International Airport and Navy Pier in Chicago, the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel, the Lenox Tower, and Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta.

Vulcan Materials participates in the environmental program Wildlife Habitat Council, a non-profit organization comprised of corporate and environmental groups set up to help companies inventory wildlife species on corporate lands and then to provide habitat enhancements for those species. Because of their dedication to these environmental programs, Vulcan has received many awards from the Environmental Eagle Awards program of the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association.

Vulcan Chemicals has received awards from the American Chemistry Council for its participation in the Council’s Responsible Care program, designed to bring about continuous improvement in the safety, health and environmental performance of the chemical industry.

Vulcan’s charitable contributions include more than 100 adopt-a-school programs, 98 scholarships, and facility tours for approximately 27,000 children. The company has also established 30 certified wildlife habitats, which is more than any other company in the United States.

Note to Editors: For more information about the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame, visit the Web site at http://aehof.eng.ua.edu.