His mentor/thesis advisor taught him to be the best engineer he could be.
His mom taught him to give back — just like her father taught her, giving his last dollar to the church during the Depression.
Put the two together, and you have the Dr. Joseph and Donna Glas Scholarship in Memory of Professor James Westwater, funded by a grateful grad who earned both his master’s (1962) and Ph.D. (1965) from the UI.
“Following graduate school,” Joe Glas says, “I joined DuPont as a research engineer, and then progressed through management assignments in research, manufacturing, marketing and business, eventually to the position as head of DuPont’s fluoroproducts as vice president and general manager.
“In that capacity, I led the business through the challenging task of phasing out of the production of chlorofluorocarbons and developing an environment of safe alternatives. For that effort, the business was awarded the EPA’s Environmental Protection Award and in 2002, the U.S. National Technology Medal.
“Inspired by my mother’s guidance for giving — she passed on a college scholarship to help the family during the Depression — and Professor Westwater’s professional guidance for professional research conduct, my wife and I established an endowed scholarship in chemical engineering ‘In Memory of Professor Westwater.’ We continue to grow the fund.”
As the UI’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering notes in its description of the award: “Ever loyal to his alma mater, Dr. Glas chaired the department’s resource development committee in the early 1990s and has served on its external advisory committee. He also is a former convocation speaker,” as seen in the photo above.
