The State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame honors the outstanding accomplishments of individuals, corporations, institutions and projects that bring significant recognition to the state. The 2016 induction ceremony was held in February in Mobile where five individuals were inducted, including four Auburn Engineering alumni who have served as extraordinary representatives of the college.
Frazier Christy, ’69 civil engineering, joined the U.S. Navy after completing his degree. He finished in the top of his class at the Mine Warfare School and became the engineer officer to the USS Jacana. Christy then volunteered for duty with the SeaBees, the U.S. Naval Construction Forces, and served the U.S. Mobile Construction Battalion No. 4.
In 1970, Rust Engineering brought him back to Alabama, where he worked in Birmingham as a design engineer. Shortly after, he left to join Paragon Engineering in 1971. Focusing on civil projects involving massive grading operations, highway, storm water handling, sewage collection and treatment, along with surveying mapping and control, Christy completed more than 6,200 projects for Paragon. The firm grew and Christy advanced, eventually landing him at the top as president. He was responsible for projects with construction costs totaling more than $500 million. In 2007, Hatch Mott MacDonald acquired Paragon, but Christy continued to serve the company as subdivision manager, division manager and in-house consultant until he retired in 2012.
Throughout his more than 43 years as a practicing engineer, Christy had a role in designing or managing numerous civic projects that brought economic development to Alabama and a better quality of life for its citizens. A registered professional engineer in several states, he is a fellow of the American Council of Engineering Companies. Christy served on the National ACEC Budget Committee as a member and chairman, and was heavily involved in ACEC in Alabama, eventually serving as president. He is a life fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers where he has been active in the branch and section levels.
He has also been committed to enhancing engineering education through support of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Engineering, where he was an adjunct professor for seven years and served on the school’s advisory board for 17 years. He also served as chair of the UAB Engineering Foundation, where he is still an active member. He continues his support by teaching courses in UAB’s Continuing Education Series for Professional Engineers.
Charles Gavin III, ’59 textile management, obtained his executive MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after graduating from Auburn. His next step was Cabin Crafts, a subsidiary of West Point-Pepperell. During his time there, the company recognized him for his technical expertise and innovation. At the young age of 26, Gavin was hired as plant manager for Rossville Carpet Dying. There, he was tasked with building the most modern commission carpet dyeing facility in the industry.
Among other technical achievements, he developed the first successful acid dyed filament carpets at Columbus Carpet Mills in his hometown of Columbus, Georgia. This accomplishment became the industry standard, still maintained today. Throughout his 20-plus year career, Gavin took on numerous assignments and responsibilities, including plant manager and later vice president of carpet manufacturing for Columbus Mills, Inc., among other plants in Columbus; Phenix City, Alabama; Union Springs, Alabama; and Eufaula, Alabama.
Gavin founded MFG Chemical, Inc. in Dalton, Georgia, to serve as a supplier to the carpet industry. Highly successful today, MFG offers custom and toll chemical manufacturing. What began as a husband-wife team now has three plants and a distribution center, serving a broad segment of the chemical industry’s top Fortune 100 companies, as well as major international companies. Gavin serves as the board chairman, and since the recent death of his son, Chuck, he has returned as CEO.
Since he was a student at Auburn, he has been a member of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists. Gavin served as president of the AATCC and 10 years as treasurer, while also being named emeritus treasurer for both the association and its foundation upon his retirement. He has received the Harold C. Chapin Award for service to the industry. In 2003, Gavin was named the outstanding alumnus in textile engineering and has served as an adviser to the polymer and fiber department.
He and his wife, Carol Ann, have maintained close ties with Auburn Engineering, strongly supporting engineering education and work force development. He created an endowed professorship in chemical engineering and recently gifted $8 million to the College of Engineering. The contribution allows an update and renovation of the college’s former Textile Building, renamed the Gavin Engineering Research Laboratory. Gavin was named Distinguished Auburn Engineer in 2014 and is a member of the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council, Engineering’s Eagles and Keystone societies and the President’s Circle of the 1856 Society.
Bobby Keith has been a supporter of engineering education throughout his construction industry career, combining personal integrity and community involvement in leadership. After graduating, Keith, ’63 mechanical engineering, joined Northrop Space Laboratories in Huntsville, Alabama, where he worked in the U.S. Lunar Landing Program.
At Northrop, Keith worked with thermodynamics of heat transfer in missile propulsion systems. He became a development and guidance program team leader for the Saturn V rocket system used in the Apollo Lunar Landing program. While working, he attended night classes at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, pursuing his master’s degree in astrodynamics.
During his time at Auburn, Keith spent his summers working for Hoar Construction, formerly known as F.R. Hoar & Son, and he returned to the company in 1970, this time to the Birmingham location. He started as a field supervisor and rose to chief executive officer. With offices in seven major cities, Hoar Construction ranks among the country’s largest construction companies. While retired from the company in 2001, he currently serves on the board of directors.
Showing his support for education, he and his wife, Donna, established the Keith Family Presidential Endowed Scholarship in the College of Engineering. He also serves on the college’s civil engineering advisory board. Since his retirement, Keith has taken his construction skills to Honduras, Brazil, Venezuela, Spain, Romania, Ukraine and South Sudan to help build and renovate churches, schools and drug rehabilitation and community centers.
Nelda Lee followed her father’s legacy to begin an impressive career advocating for women in the aerospace industry. Lee, ’69 aerospace engineering, was the second woman to graduate Auburn with this degree. While on the Plains, she completed elective courses to earn her private pilot’s license.
After graduation, she worked with McDonnell Douglas Co., now part of Boeing, as an associate engineer at a time when few women worked in the aviation industry. By proving her dedication and outstanding work, she gained respect, and her responsibilities increased during the next four decades. Lee was the first woman to work on the flight test engineering team at the company and was integral to the test engineering of the F-15, the Air Force’s premier tactical combat aircraft. She was also the first woman to fly an F-15. In 2009, she became senior manager for the test and evaluation business division, overseeing flight and ground test teams. Lee retired from Boeing in 2014.
Lee has been recognized as an outstanding alumna by Auburn University and Webster University in St. Louis, where she earned her master’s degree in management and human resource development in 1999. Showing dedication to helping young women pursue engineering, Lee is an active member of the College of Engineering’s 100 Women Strong program. She has also served as president of the St. Louis chapter of the Society of Flight Test Engineers and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
