On October 22, 2009, the School of Chemical Engineering will honor Dr. Mary Ellen Weber (BSChE '84) and Dr. Henry Sampson (BSChE '56) with the Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award.

The School of Chemical Engineering has a tradition of recognizing alumni who have achieved distinction as leaders in their careers and who have shaped the chemical engineering profession. Over the years, only 121 of the school’s 9,000 alumni have been accorded this prestigious award.

During their visit, the honorees will meet with faculty, staff, and students in the School, and they will visit the Fundamentals lab. The events will conclude with dinner and award presentation on Thursday evening.

Henry Sampson, BSChE ’56

Henry Sampson was raised in Jackson, Mississippi, where his parents instilled in him the love of learning. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, before transferring to Purdue University. While a Purdue student, he was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Sampson earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Purdue in 1956. He worked as a research chemical engineer at the U.S. Naval Weapons Center in China Lake, California, in the area of high energy solid propellants and case bonding materials for solid rocket motors. He earned his master’s degree and PhD at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in 1965 and 1967, respectively.

Sampson then moved to the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California, where he served as the director of mission development and operations of the space test program. He led senior engineering staff in the planning, acquisition, development, launching, and space operation of several satellites. He was one of the earliest engineers to examine how to power satellites. Sampson has written a number of papers on rocket propulsion, direct conversion of nuclear energy to electricity, and computer simulation of electrical systems. He pioneered a study of internal ballistics of solid rocket motors using high-speed photography. He has written several technical papers and has been granted patents. In 1971, he coinvented the gamma-electric cell that made it possible to send and receive audio signals via radio waves without wires. 

During the AIChE Centennial Meeting held in Philadelphia in November 2008, Dr. Sampson was honored among the “Twenty Chemical Engineers in Other Pursuits.” Sampson is the recipient of a variety of awards including the Atomic Energy Commission Award (1964-1967), Black Image Award from Aerospace Corporation (1982), Blacks in Engineering, Applied Science and Education Award and Los Angeles Council of Black Professional Engineers (1983), and was named a fellow in the U.S. Navy (1962-1964).

In addition to his work in engineering fields, Sampson is a writer, film historian, and documentary film producer who focuses on the African American presence in the film and entertainment industries. He has written five books about the portrayal of African Americans in movies, cartoons, and on radio. Sampson is married to Laura Howzell Young-Sampson, a professor at California State University-San Bernardino. Together, they are working on a biography of Sampson’s mother.

Mary Ellen Weber, BSChE ’84

Mary Ellen Weber is currently vice president for government affairs and policy at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Focusing on analytical approaches to legislative issues and strategic communications, she is responsible for annual appropriations of more than $175 million. Weber received her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Purdue University in 1984, a master’s degree in business administration from Southern Methodist University in 2002, and a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988. Her doctoral work explored the physics of gas-phase chemical reactions involving silicon. She has been awarded one patent and published several papers in scientific journals.

Weber was selected by NASA in the 14th group of astronauts in 1992, and subsequently flew on STS-70 (Discovery, 1995) and STS-101 (Atlantis, 2000) and logged more than 450 hours in space. She is among the youngest astronauts to fly in space. At NASA, Weber held assignments in technology commercialization, a legislative affairs liaison, and chairman of the procurement board for the biotechnology program contractor. She also served on a team that revamped the $2 billion plan for Space Station research facilities and worked with other space agencies to develop the training protocols and facilities for space station experiments. She is a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.

During the AIChE Centennial Meeting held in Philadelphia in November 2008, Dr. Weber was honored as one of nine in the category “Chemical Engineers in Space.” Weber serves on the boards of the Museum of Natural History, The Science Place, and the Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations. In addition, she serves on a NASA advisory committee that counsels the space program on future technologies.  

Weber served as a Purdue University Old Master in 1998. While a Purdue student, she was a Dean’s Engineering Scholar, a member of Phi Mu social sorority, and a Grand Prix participant. Weber is a skydiver with more than 4,000 dives and has earned 12 silver and bronze medals at the U.S. National Skydiving Championships and a world record for the largest freefall formation with 300 skydivers. She is an instrument-rated pilot with more than 800 hours flying time, including 600 in jets. She also is a golfer and scuba diver. She is married to Jerome L. Elkind, a medicinal chemist.