Fourteen engineering management professionals were honored by the University of Missouri-Rolla when they were inducted into UMR’s newly formed Academy of Engineering Management Thursday, April 14. One person was elected as an honorary member.

The academy, established at UMR last spring, is an advisory group to the UMR engineering management department. The fourteen members were selected based on input from a faculty committee and a group of four founding members.

"We wanted our members to be strongly committed to the department and good representatives of the type of people we want in our academy," says Dr. William Daughton, chair of the engineering management department at UMR.

Inducted were:

— Merl Baker (honorary) of Lexington, Ky., engineering management and educational consultant. A former UMR chancellor and special assistant to the president of the University of Missouri System, Baker has been a professor of engineering and engineering management and director for the Center for Professional Career Enhancement at the University of Tennessee.

— Lt. Gen. Joe N. Ballard of Davidsonville, Md., president and chief executive officer of The Ravens Group. Ballard received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Southern University before earning a master of science degree in engineering management from UMR in 1972.

— Bob Benezette of Lansing, Mich., program manager of research, development and planning at General Motors. Benezette earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics and bachelor of science and master of science degrees in engineering management from UMR in 1971, 1972 and 1973, respectively.

— Jack Bertelsmeyer of Eureka, Mo., co-founder of Power Supply Industries. Bertelsmeyer received a bachelor of science degree in engineering management from UMR in 1970.

— Dan DeRiemer of Roswell, Ga., founder of Possibilities Inc. DeRiemer received a bachelor of science degree in engineering management from UMR in 1972.

— Russell Espinosa of Scottsdale, Ariz., vice president of integrated supply chain at Honeywell. Espinosa earned a bachelor of science degree in engineering management from UMR in 1982 and a master of science degree in industrial engineering from Wayne State University in 1986.

— Jim Faletti of Crete, Ill., cofounder, president and chief executive officer of HR Insights and president of Strategic Insights. Faletti received bachelor of science and master of science degrees in engineering management from UMR in 1971 and 1979, respectively.

— Wilbur Feagan of Springfield, Mo., president of F&H Food Equipment Co. Feagan received a bachelor of science degree in sanitary engineering from the University of Illinois in 1963 and a master of science degree in engineering management from UMR in 1979.

— Gregory D. McClain of Cedar Falls, Iowa, John Deere Engine Works. McClain received a bachelor of science degree in engineering management and mechanical engineering from UMR in 1972 and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Dayton in 1976.

— Tom Owens of Easton, Pa., vice president of operations at Binney & Smith. Owens received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and a master of science degree in engineering management from UMR in 1968 and 1971, respectively.

— Mathew Pitsch of Fort Smith, Ark., interim dean and head of engineering in the College of Applied Science and Technology at the University of Arkansas — Fort Smith. Pitsch earned bachelor of science and master of science degrees from UMR in 1985 and 1986, respectively.

— Greg Slack of St. Louis, president and chief executive officer of Trabue Industrial Systems and CBK & Associates. Slack received a bachelor of science degree in engineering management from UMR in 1970. In addition, Slack was elected president during the academy’s first business meeting on Friday, April 15.

— Howard Stine of Chesterfield, Mo., executive vice president of Charles E. Jarrell Contracting. Stine received a bachelor of science degree in applied mathematics and a master of science degree in engineering management from UMR in 1967 and 1968, respectively.

— William A. Stoltz of Rolla, Mo., president and chief executive officer of Central Federal Savings and Loan. Stoltz received a bachelor of science degree in economics from Missouri Valley College in 1967 and a bachelor of science degree in engineering management from UMR in 1968. He graduated from the School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University in 1985.