Lecturer Shows Chemistry Graduate Students The Business

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Tony McCollum, former global analytical services vice president for Eastman Chemical Co., means business, and he’s teaching it to chemistry graduate students at the University of Arkansas this summer.

McCollum, a Ph.D. graduate of the U of A, has returned to his alma mater to give a summer seminar on industrial chemistry, an important perspective that few students receive on campus, according to Don Bobbitt, professor of chemistry and department chair. Bobbitt hopes the seminar will serve as a pilot program for an ongoing, innovative seminar program, bringing industry experts to campus for intensive learning experiences.

The students in this summer’s course are learning many aspects of industrial chemistry, including the business aspects of the science, how to take an idea and produce it on a massive scale and how to create outstanding resumes.

"I want to give these students an understanding of the business concepts that shape the industry in which they will be working," McCollum said.

Four chemistry graduate students and one engineering graduate student listen intently as McCollum talks about value creation and its importance to companies. They pepper his presentation with questions, which often lead to interesting anecdotes about the business. During the three-hour morning session, McCollum and the students touch on resume writing, patent issues, applying research and development to pilot plants, market competition, government regulation and management structures.

McCollum’s vast experience touches on all these and more aspects of the chemical industry. He joined the Texas Eastman company as a research chemist in 1969 and subsequently worked as a manager of research planning and chemicals development, as director of analytical chemistry research and then the chemistry division, as vice president and general manager of performance chemicals and finally as vice president of global analytical systems. During that time he managed the polymer additives and chemical specialties unit, the adhesive and sealant raw materials unit and the food and nutrition ingredients unit. He was responsible for 300 products with 2,400 customers worldwide and achieved a 12 percent annual growth rate.

Even before retiring from Eastman in December 1999, McCollum had long thought about how to teach graduate students concepts they would need to know in the workplace. He had worked out a course outline, which he showed to U of A Chancellor John A. White at an Eastman board meeting. White showed enthusiasm for the idea and referred him to Bobbitt, McCollum said.

The U of A has very strong undergraduate and graduate programs in chemistry, but has always lacked a nearby chemical industry where students could get firsthand experience in the business, Bobbitt said. People like McCollum, who worked in the industry for more than 30 years, bring invaluable experience to their lectures.

"This knowledge will put these students ahead of the learning curve" when they start to interview for jobs, McCollum said.

McCollum also hopes to introduce students to ideas for career paths they might not have thought of pursuing before.

At the end of the two-week seminar, he will take the students to the Eastman plant in Longview, Texas, where they will spend 1 1/2 days touring the facilities and learning firsthand about the inner workings of chemical plants.

"This kind of class will help our students stand out of the crowd," Bobbitt said. "When these students leave, they will remember these things about the U of A."

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