Lee Note 24 Ralph White April 16, 2001

Dear Fellow REL classmates,

After graduation from Lee, I joined the Navy and went to several Navy schools including nuclear power school and submarine school. I served from 1964 to 1968 on the Woodrow Wilson, which was a nuclear power missile submarine home ported in Charleston, SC.

After the Navy, I enrolled at the U. of SC in 1968 and married Carolyn Akin (Lee '62) in 1969. I earned a BS in engineering degree from the U. of SC in 1971 and was encouraged to become a university professor. So, I went to graduate school at the U. of Calif. at Berkeley from 1971 to 1977 and earned my MS and PhD degrees in chemical engineering.

I got a job teaching at Texas A&M in 1977 and was divorced by Carolyn in 1981. She remarried her first husband (Gordon McDaniel). In 1981 I married Marjorie Nicholson. We have four kids (Robert 17, Priscilla 15, Lillian 13, and Sammy Joe 8). In 1992, the U. of SC made me an offer to become the chairman of the department of chemical engineering, which I accepted on January 1993. I served in that capacity for about seven and a half years until I was named dean of the college effective August 1, 2000.

If you want to see a picture of me, click here:

I went to the 35th reunion and really enjoyed seeing everyone. I hope to attend the 45th.

Ralph White