The James and Shirley Kuse Chair in Chemical Engineering
James Kuse, Chairman of the Board and co-founder of Georgia Gulf Corporation, is a 1955 graduate of OSU's College of Engineering. In 1997, he and his wife Shirley, a graduate of Lewis and Clark College and the University of Oregon's nursing program, established the James and Shirley Kuse Chair in Chemical Engineering to promote an integration of classroom instruction with direct, practical exposure to industry.
The Kuses have long been generous supporters of OSU. In addition to funding the endowed chair, they made significant contributions to the expansion of The Valley Library on behalf of their son Michael, a 1988 graduate of the OSU College of Business. They have also made important gifts to the OSU Alumni Association and the Burgess Engineering Unrestricted Fund. The Kuses' other affiliations include Lewis and Clark College, the National Petroleum Refiners Association, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, and the American Chemical Society.
The Kuse Chair will provide the stability needed to keep the Department of Chemical Engineering focused on a well-balanced, hands-on, undergraduate program, while pursuing research and innovation in emerging areas of chemical engineering. Holders of the Chair identify industry issues, design curriculum, and maintain a first-rate, innovative undergraduate program. The endowment supports a research and teaching program in an area of chemical engineering that is of critical importance to the profession and to the State of Oregon.
Kenneth Williamson
Kenneth Williamson was named the James and Shirley Kuse Chair in Chemical Engineering in 2005. Williamson has taught and conducted research at OSU since 1973 and became the Department Head of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering in 2000. He also became the Department Head of Chemical Engineering in 2002.
Since 1989, Professor Williamson has been the associate director of the Western Region Hazardous Substance Research Center, director of the Oregon Water Resources Research Institute for 1993 to 1999, and co-director of the Center for Water and Environmental Sustainability since 2000.
Williamson was appointed by Governor Ted Kulongoski to the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission in 2003 and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board in 2005.
Williamson was awarded the Dar Reese Advising Award in 1987, the College of Engineering Austin-Paul University Faculty Award in 1986, the Alumni Award in 1997, and the D. Curtis Mumford Faculty Service Award in 2000.
Professor Williamson is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Water Works Association, The Water Pollution Control Federation, the Association of Environmental Engineering Professors, and the American Society of Engineering Education.
An OSU alumnus, Professor Williamson received his B.S. in civil engineering and an M.S. in environmental engineering before heading to Palo Alto for doctoral studies at Stanford University. He was awarded a Ph.D. in 1973.
