The University of Mississippi plans to name the chemical engineering department after Barbara Beckmann, the first female of its School of Engineering and a longtime supporter of its students and programs. Submitted photo
Ole Miss welcomes engineering alumni to share insights, career journeys
The male-dominated classes, dress code requirements and dorm curfews could not derail Barbara Beckmann from becoming the first female graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Engineering in 1961.
“You had to stay on campus and the girls’ dorms closed at 8:30,” said Beckmann, a senior economic adviser at ExxonMobil.
“When we had group work to do and there was something that the rest of my group wanted to discuss late in the evening, it would have to be a telephone call from one of the community dorm phones.”
Beckmann, ExxonMobil’s first female engineer and longest-serving employee, returned to her alma mater October 17, 2024, as an alumni panelist for the Ole Miss engineering school’s 125th anniversary kickoff event inside Paul B. Johnson Commons.
“My education at Ole Miss was superior,” the chemical engineering graduate said. “Primarily because it was focused on basic principles.”
From founding the first Chi Epsilon civil engineering honor society chapter in the Southeast in 1937 to expanding the accredited undergraduate and graduate academic programs offered, the school has marked numerous milestones since its start in 1900.
That’s why the anniversary celebrations began nearly a year early, said Viola L. Acoff, dean of the school and the first female and first African American to earn the position.
“What better way to kick things off than to highlight the whole reason we are here, which is producing engineers,” Acoff said.
Panelist Bill Parsons, who graduated with a degree in general engineering in 1979, personifies the school’s alumni success, specifically in engineering management.
In his 22 years working for NASA, Parsons served as chief engineer and center director at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County. He’s also served in leadership positions at Kennedy and Johnson space centers, playing pivotal roles in returning the space shuttle to flight in 2005 after its deadly disaster two years before.
“They asked me to move from Mississippi back to Houston to take over the shuttle program,” Parsons said. “I could either put the space shuttle in a museum and never fly it again, or I could return it to flight, finish the International Space Station, allow us to go back to the moon and later to Mars.
“If we had shut the shuttle down, we would not have completed the space station, may have shut the program down, may not have had a vision to go back to the moon and so on and so forth.”
A vice president of space technology systems and civil space with Peraton, he oversees everything from high-altitude NASA balloons flying over Antarctica to Department of Defense and military rockets.
He reminded students that an Ole Miss engineering education leads to countless career paths, so he encouraged them to explore co-op and internship opportunities to better discover what’s right for them.
“The chief engineer, he’s the smartest guy in the room, that’s for sure,” Parsons said.
“I’m not the chief engineer, but I’m a pretty damn good at making hard decisions based on data and facts.”
Students, faculty, staff and alumni also heard advice and insights from panelists:
- Al Hilliard, retired ExxonMobil executive
- Darin Van Pelt, director of Ole Miss general engineering program
- Lucy Priddy, associate director of engineering research at U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
- Markeeva Morgan, vice president and program manager of business operations and compliance at Boeing.
Alumni success stories reach beyond Thursday’s panel and often start with graduates hiring students for internships or jobs.
Hands-on opportunities offered by the Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence and chances to become involved with faculty research as an undergraduate have also been driving factors in increasing new student enrollment.
The school is the state’s oldest engineering program. Administrators continue to foster industry relationships, recruit award-winning faculty and update curriculum to keep pace with engineering trends and demands.
“For instance, our newest program is biomedical engineering, and Memphis is one of the major biomedical technology sectors in the U.S.,” Acoff explained. “That was a logical addition based on the university’s proximity to that technology sector, which is a rapidly growing field.
“The added value that we have over much larger schools is that we have a family atmosphere that instills a strong sense of belonging, yet our students still have access to the experiential learning activities that are available to their peers at larger institutions.”
And the result is paying off. Beckmann recently gave $5 million to the school, and the chemical engineering department will soon further cement her legacy as the Barbara Kerr Beckmann Department of Chemical Engineering.
“You need to give back for what you have received, and I want the whole program to succeed,” Beckmann said.
By Marvis Herring
