Texas Tech College of Engineering Honors Alumni

Written by: Ben Samples

Texas Tech University’s College of Engineering hosted the 41st Annual Distinguished Engineer Awards Ceremony on March 30 honoring four alumni for significant contributions in their respective communities and fields of specialization as well as continued dedication to both Texas Tech and the engineering profession. 

Award recipients were nominated and selected based on factors such as their integrity, professional distinction, areas of interest outside of engineering and ability to inspire others.

"The awards honor outstanding alumni of the college," said Pamela Eibeck, dean of the College of Engineering. "We are equally proud and honored to have them acting as ambassadors of the university."
The recipients of the Distinguished Engineer Award:

•    David H. Barr, group president of drilling and evaluation for Baker Hughes, where he is responsible for $4.6 billion in sales and 18,000 employees in approximately 90 countries. Barr also served as president for Baker Atlas – a division of Baker Hughes that provides oilfield wireline logging services.

David is a director of the Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association and has served on its executive board since 2003.  He is a member the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts, International Association of Drilling Contractors, National Oil Equipment Manufactures and Delegates Society, and the World Affairs Council.

•    G. Kemble "Kem" Bennett, vice chancellor of the Texas A&M University System and dean of Texas A&M’s Dwight Look College of Engineering. As vice chancellor, Bennett coordinates the academic and research programs of the ten A&M system universities. He also administers the research programs and extension services of three state agencies: the Texas Engineering Extension Service, Texas Transportation Institute and Texas Engineering Experiment Station, where he is currently the director.

Bennett is considered a leader in engineering education and a national authority on homeland security. He is the founding chairman of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, served as founder and executive director of the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center, and is the founder of Texas Task Force-1 – a federal urban search and rescue team which led recovery efforts at the World Trade Center following the Sept. 11 attacks.  

He was recently appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to serve on the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and is an elected fellow of the Society of Logistics Engineers and the Institute of Industrial Engineers.

•    William B. Hagood, senior vice president of HDR Engineering Inc., the 17th largest engineering and architecture firm in the United States. Hagood provides professional engineering services in all areas of transportation, water resources, wastewater, environmental sciences, economic and urban development for both public and private clients. His more notable projects include Interstate 27 in Lubbock, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority’s light-rail transit tunnel and Dallas North Central Expressway.

Hagood is also a retired colonel of the U.S. Army. In 2003, he commanded the 353rd Engineer Group deployed in Baghdad, Iraq, where he was responsible for the division’s military and civilian engineering planning, design and construction.

He is active on various boards including the Texas Tech Civil Engineering Advisory Council, Dallas Consulting Engineers Council, Statewide Legislative Committee of the Texas Council of Engineering Companies and the Texas Tech College of Engineering Dean’s Council, where he currently serves as president emeritus. He also received HDR’s Gold Pathfinder Award of Excellence for Community Service.

•    Harold R. Inman, retired president and general manager of Mobil Exploration Norway Inc., where he oversaw the offshore operations of three gravity base platforms located in the North Sea. The platforms were utilized for drilling, processing of product, gas injection, oil storage and living quarters.

Inman spent the entirety of his 32-year career working for Mobil in positions including senior planning associate for Mobil’s North American Division in New York, manager of gas development and evaluation in Houston, and vice president of liquefied natural gas for Mobil Oil Indonesia Inc. While in Indonesia, Inman worked with the Indonesian government and national oil company to negotiate the sale and transportation of liquefied natural gas to Japan and for the construction of a gas treatment and liquefaction plant.

Contact: Claudia Thornton, assistant development officer, College of Engineering, Texas Tech University, at (806) 742-3451, or Claudia.Thornton@ttu.edu.