Jefcoat named to Hunter Henry Chair

Jefcoat

Irvin A. Jefcoat has been named Hunter Henry Professor of Chemical Engineering at Mississippi State.

The newly established chair honors the Mississippi State alumnus who is a retired executive vice president and member of the board of directors of The Dow Chemical Co.

Jefcoat most recently was a member of chemical engineering faculty at the University of Alabama, and was head of the department from 1989 to 1992.

While at Alabama, he held assignments as associate director of the Environmental Institute for Wastewater Management Studies, program coordinator for the College of Engineering's Hazardous Material Management and Resource Recovery Program, and he coordinated the university's participation in the Gulf Coast Hazardous Substance Research Center.

He was a three-time recipient of the University of Alabama's Chemical Engineering Outstanding Faculty Award.

Jefcoat received a master's and a Ph.D. from Clemson University in 1969 and 1973, respectively, and a bachelor's from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1962.

Henry

During his 42-year career with Dow, Henry served as president of Dow Brazil and Dow Chemical USA. He is a 1950 chemical engineering graduate of Mississippi State.

In 1997, he made the commitment to fully endow an academic chair in the Department of Chemical Engineering, donating an initial $700,000 to the fund.

Henry and his wife, Lila, also have established the Henry Endowment Fund for Engineering. The fund makes possible eight Henry Scholarships annually for students in mechanical and chemical engineering.

He is a member of the College of Engineering's Advisory Board, the Chemical Engineering Hall of Fame, and the board of directors of the Mississippi State University Foundation.