Walton Mom's Influence Leads to Generational Involvement of Engineering Grads Since 1970s

Family and Communication

The Walton Family, from left: T.A. Walton, Sandra Walton and Chris Walton.

This article is the first in a series about the College of Engineering and families that have had multiple generations pursue engineering studies at the University of Arkansas

Growing up in a rural community does not mean you cannot have enormous dreams. Raised in a small town by his mom, Trent Avery "T.A." Walton knew that graduating from high school and attending college was not just an option, but an expectation.

His mother, Earnestine Banks Walton Russell, graduated from the U of A College of Agriculture with a master's degree in home economics in 1969 and taught high school in the Forrest City School District for nearly 30 years. She spent her nights working a second job, believing that owning a home and land — and getting an education — were keys to generational stability for her family. Her focus was ensuring her children had the best opportunity to succeed, and she demanded excellence. She would say, "Work for and expect an A, be disappointed with a B and be offended by a C," T.A. said.

T.A. was valedictorian of Forrest City High School in 1977 and enrolled at the U of A that fall. He chose to study chemical engineering. Failure and returning home were not an option.

"Being a new student in the late '70s in Fayetteville was exciting and challenging at the same time," T.A. said. "It was a personal responsibility not to let my family and myself down. My mom encouraged me to change initial plans to attend MIT and attend the U of A. I'm glad she did."

This was a time of rapid change for African Americans at U of A and elsewhere. In 1979, Olympian Wilma Rudolph spoke on campus. Chip Hooper became the first Razorback tennis player to achieve the nation's No. 1 ranking in singles. Diane Ousley won the NCAA 600-meter run to become the university's first female national champion. The historical contributions of African American college students during this era were profound. They had to lean on one another for support, and they did.

T.A. was academically competitive and active on campus, as he was a National Merit Achievement Scholar from 1977 to 1981. Additionally, he was inducted into the Omega Chi Epsilon, Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma honor societies. He was a member and an officer of the Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Society and a charter member and conference delegate of the National Society of Black Engineers for multiple years.

After graduating in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering, with fellowship funding from DuPont and the National Science Foundation, he completed his master's degree in chemical engineering in 1983.

After working briefly for W.R. Grace Corporate Research, T.A. joined Proctor & Gamble Corp., where he would work in various career assignments before retiring in 2008 with 23 years of service.

Subsequently, T.A.'s path took him back to the U of A, where he worked for over eight years as managing director of the GRid-Connected Advanced Power Electronic Systems and the National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission.

In 2011, he was inducted into the Arkansas Academy of Chemical Engineers.

"We never consciously pressured our children to choose the U of A. … It was just a natural, and maybe unspoken, expectation. This is where they wanted to be," he said. "We have one Marine and two engineers and are proud of them all."

T.A.'s oldest son, Trent, studied engineering at U of A before joining the U.S. Marine Corps.

His second son, Chris, lives in Houston, Texas, with his wife, Jazmin, and their two children, Leah and Aaron.

Chris Walton earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from U of A. He earned a Master of Science in 2012 and a Ph.D. in 2013 from Mississippi State University's mechanical engineering program. While at MSU, he worked at the school's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, focusing his research on the damage progression of the chemo-mechanical effects on magnesium alloys. This multidisciplinary research field integrated chemistry, materials science, solid and fracture mechanics, probability and statistics.

Chris Walton began his career at BP America in Houston, Texas, in 2014, working as a riser engineer in their Subsea Operations Group. He has had various roles in the group since and currently works as a project operations engineer. Additionally, he supports the operations readiness for new well startups within the Gulf of Mexico region.

Sandra resides in southwest Georgia, where she enjoys singing in her church’s choir, baking, hunting, and traveling.

Sandra Walton holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering, following in her father’s footsteps, from the U of A. After graduating from the Ralph E. Martin Department of Chemical Engineering in 2017, Sandra started her career as a production management engineer at Cargill Inc. She quickly advanced to maintenance supervisor, then in 2020, moved to Georgia to continue her engineering career with Procter & Gamble. She started as a process engineer in papermaking operations and is now a machine manager of a $350 million paper machine operation, producing national name-brand tissue paper. She manages reliability, maintenance, electrical efforts, and systemic improvement and loss elimination on her machine while significantly contributing to the supply chain for the national brand of tissue her machine makes.

Walton is a member of the Black Alumni Society Board, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., and has had numerous leadership positions in her lifetime. While attending the U of A, Sandra was active in the Black Alumni Society Scholars Organization, the Black Students Association, the Academic Enrichment Program), and the U of A Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers. In addition, she was a resident assistant for two years. That names a few of the many activities in which she was a leader. While an undergraduate student at the U of A, Sandra was able to complete research at the University of Pittsburgh under professor Steven Little as an NSF REU Fellow in 2017, where she gained an even greater passion for chemical engineering while researching particle-based functional materials for various medical applications using microfluidics for pharmaceutical encapsulation.

The Walton family has been a part of the College of Engineering family since the late 1970s.

“The Walton family is always available to give back in their time and resources whenever needed,” said Patrice Storey, assistant director of justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion for the College of Engineering. “They are active in the local community, and she sees them firsthand serving at church. We look forward to the next generation of Waltons in Chris’ children, Leah and Aaron.”