BS Mechanical Engineering 1946
Donald Malvern* received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering in 1946. A few years into his education, war broke out and he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, where he served as a pilot, flight engineer and maintenance officer from 1943 to 1946. He served in aerodynamics as chief flight test engineer, and in 1958 became project manager for the F-4 Phantom program. He was appointed executive vice president of McDonnell Aircraft in 1973, later earning the titles of vice president McDonnell Douglas, 1973 to 1988, and president of McDonnell Aircraft, 1982 to 1986. He retired as corporate vice president of McDonnell Douglas in 1988 and served as a consultant following retirement.
BS Civil Engineering 1953
John W. Owensby* graduated from OU with a B.S. in civil engineering in 1953. After graduation, Owensby accepted a job with Chevron Oil Co. in New Orleans. From 1959 to 1962, he was plant manager for Ike Haggard Machine Works in Harvey, La. In 1962, he joined Ted A. Kritikos in the formation of Owensby & Kritikos Inc. to provide inspection and engineering services for the offshore industry. Owensby was a generous donor to OU throughout his life. He established the John and Dolores Owensby Family Scholarship to award undergraduate scholarships to deserving civil engineering and environmental science students.
BS Mechanical Engineering 1954
Kenneth W. Perry graduated from OU with a B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1954. He began his professional career with Cosden Petroleum Corp., Big Spring, Texas, in 1957. Classified as a junior engineer, his first assignment was the supervision of the construction of the company’s first polystyrene plant. The assets of Cosden were purchased by American Petrofina Inc. in 1963 and the company went through several permutations before emerging as Fina Inc., where Perry served as CEO from 1986 to 1992. He joined Nimir Petroleum Co. Ltd. as CEO in 1992. His professional activities include serving on OU College of Engineering Board of Visitors and OU Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Visiting Committee.
BS Mechanical Engineering 1954
Donna L. Shirley, president of Managing Creativity, is a well-known manager, educator, speaker, consultant and trainer on the management of creative teams. She retired in August 1998 as manager of the Mars Exploration Program after a 32-year career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Shirley managed the team that built Sojourner, the Microrover, which landed on the surface of Mars on July 4, 1997. In 2003, she retired from the OU College of Engineering, where she was assistant dean and an instructor of aerospace and mechanical engineering. In 2002 and 2003, she was the founding director of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, Wash. She received a B.A. in journalism in 1963, and a B.S. in aerospace engineering in 1965, both from OU. She later received an M.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. She holds four honorary doctorates.
MS Industrial Engineering 1969
Carl N. Stover served as chairman, president and CEO of C. H. Guernsey & Co. from 1990 to 2005. He continues to serve as chairman of the board. Established in 1928, Guernsey is an engineering, architecture and consulting service located in Oklahoma City related to the electric utility industry. Stover has assisted distribution, G&T and other public power electric systems with such issues as the restructuring of the industry, power supply planning, negotiation of power supply contracts, development of power supply resources, and retail and wholesale electric rate proceedings. He has testified before many state commissions as well as before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He received an M.S. in industrial engineering in 1969 and a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1963 from OU.
PHD Chemical Engineering
F. Mark Townsend* served as a captain in the U.S. Army during World War II, receiving a Purple Heart. During the Allied invasion of Normandy, Capt. Townsend was hit by German mortar fire, which injured three of his limbs. After 17 operations, he returned to OU in the fall of 1947, after having learned to write with his left hand. He went on to complete his B.S., which had been interrupted by his induction to the Army. He then earned an M.S. and was one of the first graduates to receive a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from OU. Before he retired in 1983, Townsend taught for 28 years as a professor in OU’s School of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.
