John Warmack of Texarkana, Arkansas, principal at Warmack and Co. LLC, will deliver the commencement address at a special July ceremony at Missouri University of Science and Technology. The commencement ceremony will honor former Missouri S&T students who graduated during 2020 or in spring 2021 but were unable to participate in a ceremony because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Candidates for graduation in summer 2021 may also participate.

The special commencement ceremony will begin at 9 a.m., Saturday, July 31, at the Gale Bullman Building, located at 10th Street and Bishop Avenue in Rolla. All attendees and graduates will be required to wear facial coverings.

Warmack earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Missouri S&T in 1979. Arriving on campus from Fort Smith, Arkansas, at age 17 after completing his junior year of high school, he finished his final high school requirements through a correspondence course and graduated from S&T at age 20, after 3 1/2 years of study. After graduation, Warmack joined his family real estate development business, where he worked for 36 years, and became engaged in public service in his home state of Arkansas.

Warmack was a founding member of the Arkansas Executive Forum associated with the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. His other public service included five years on the Fort Smith, Arkansas, Airport Commission and five years on the Arkansas Workforce Investment Commission.

Warmack’s father founded Warmack and Co. LLC in the 1930s. The company manufactured gas heaters in the winter and outdoor lawn furniture in the summer. In 1960, the company transitioned from manufacturing to real estate development with a focus on commercial development. Warmack developed computer-aided design software for the business. He also co-developed the structural engineering module for Graphisoft’s ArchiCad and was involved in designing Structural DeskTop, an application program interface for AutoCad.

For the past eight years, Warmack has focused his efforts on developing a national energy policy to close the nuclear fuel cycle through a program for recycling spent nuclear fuel. The science and technology needed to accomplish the policy originated with the Manhattan Project, and Warmack believes it is now ready for full-scale commercial deployment. Warmack has successfully shepherded energy legislation through the Arkansas General Assembly and is working with other states and national laboratories to implement the policy.More information about Missouri S&T commencement is available at registrar.mst.edu/commencement.