Dr. Robert C. Tooke, retired metallurgical engineer and alumnus of Missouri S&T, has been invited to give the first lecture in the Dr. Thomas J. O’Keefe Lecture Series, presented by the department of materials science and engineering.

Tooke’s presentation, titled “Under the Technology Tree,” will be held at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, in Room G3 Schrenk Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public.

A reception honoring Tooke will be held after the lecture beginning at 5 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church Hall, 17 St. Patrick Lane.

Tooke earned his bachelor’s degree in 1962 in metallurgical engineering at Missouri S&T, then the Missouri School of Mines. After working in the steel industry for three years he returned to S&T, at that time the University of Missouri-Rolla, to complete his master’s degree in 1966 and his Ph.D. degree in 1972, both in metallurgical engineering. During this time he taught at the university and was a principal research metallurgist under contract with the U.S. Army.

He spent a total of 18 years as executive vice president of Acrometal Companies Inc. and as president of its largest subsidiary, Progress Casting Group. During his tenure at Progress, the company grew from a $2 million to a $40 million aluminum casting company. Prior to his retirement, Tooke served as vice president and chief technical officer for Magnetic Processing Systems Inc., a venture capital company.

The Dr. Thomas J. O’Keefe Lecture Series at Missouri S&T was created in memory of O’Keefe, Curators’ Professor emeritus of metallurgical engineering. He earned his bachelor’s and Ph.D. degrees from the university and taught in the metallurgical engineering department from 1953 until his death in 2008. The lecture series is funded by Joe and Sally Rupp. Joe Rupp was a student of O’Keefe’s and earned his metallurgical engineering degree from S&T in 1972.