About Me

About Me

Who IS this guy?

When I was in college, I generally regarded my professors as hard-hearted slave-driving emotionless pedantic automatons. It wasn't until I was a senior grading papers for Dr. Doyle Holstead that he and Dr. Arthur Bruce invited me to go have coffee with them one afternoon that this notion was dispelled. I was amazed to hear them talking about fishing, repairing cars, and the ordinary events of family life. I began to see them as real people for the first time.

Now, many years later, the shoe is on the other foot. I am increasingly aware that college students need to see their professors not only as "talking heads" but as counselors and mentors who are approachable and vitally interested in the success of their students. We are even capable of providing wise counsel on occasion! I want my students to be acutely aware of my interest in and concern for them as complete persons--not just as names in a grade spreadsheet. To help facilitate this, let me tell you a little about the guy who is your instructor or advisor.

I am a native of Pineville, Louisiana. Yes, I am one of the people they "let out" of Pineville. (For the uninitiated, Pineville is the location of the state mental hospital.) My father was a machinist and my mother kept children in our home to help pay for the college education of the three children. I have one brother and one sister. I was the middle child. I attended Louisiana Tech (Louisiana Polytechnic Institute as it was known then) from 1965-1970. I graduated in mechanical engineering but also completed about thirty hours of courses in business administration, a decision that I have never regretted. While at Tech I enjoyed participating in activities within the College of Engineering. I was active in ASME and served as president of Pi Tau Sigma and Tau Beta Pi. I married my college sweetheart, Debbie, two days after I graduated from Tech. She is originally from Savannah, Georgia, but grew up in New Orleans. We have two grown daughters and one grandson. (Click here to see our recent family photos & movies.)

The aforementioned coffee break with Drs. Holstead and Bruce eventually led me to consider attending graduate school. I eventually decided to attend the University of Texas at Austin on a fast-track fellowship that allowed me to complete my M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in slightly more than three years. I immediately went to work at Georgia Tech in 1973 as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. Upon my promotion to associate professor at Georgia Tech, I was led to return to my alma mater. So in 1980 we moved back to Ruston where we have remained continuously.

While I was at Georgia Tech I co-founded a small company that developed and marketed HASS, a computer program for analyzing fire sprinkler systems. I sold my interest in HASS in 1995 after twenty rewarding years. It remains one of the most widely used programs in the fire sprinkler industry. I developed my interest in programming and personal computers through the development of HASS.

Today my principal role at Louisiana Tech is in serving as Academic Director for the Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Construction Engineering Technology programs and teaching mechanical engineering courses. But I have other responsibilities, including serving as director of the Institute for IDEAS, chairman of the Campus Computing Services Coordinating Committee, advising student organizations, and research. But my first love is teaching and advising students. It is extremely gratifying to see young freshmen grow and mature through their college experiences and in four (or five, or six, or seven...) years be ready to move out and take a responsible position in society.

I consider teaching to be not only my profession, but to a significant extent, a portion of my personal ministry. As a born-again Christian I believe that God is the author of all that is true and good. As an engineering educator I profess truths about the operation of the world that God has made. As marvelous and exciting as these truths about the world are, I encourage you to consider the One who is the author, creator, and sustainer of these truths. Since accepting Jesus Christ as my personal saviour at the age of nine, I have continually sought to make Him the lord of my life. If you are a Christian college student, I encourage you to be faithful in your spiritual growth during your college years. It is so very easy to slack off your Christian commitment during this time in your life when you are separated from your adolescent role-models for the first time. Don't do this! Stay faithful! Participate actively in campus Christian organizations and the student ministry of one of our local churches.

If you are not a Christian, let me express to you my sincere desire for you to come to know the God of this magnificent creation in a unique way that is available through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. There are many Christian faculty members on the Tech campus. Any of us would be delighted to assist you as you begin a spiritual journey of faith in Christ.