Tau Beta Pi Names Dr. James E. Drewry as 2001 Distinguished Alumnus

Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, has named the 2001 winner of its Distinguished Alumnus Award.  Now in its fifth year, the award was established to recognize alumni who have demonstrated adherence to the ideals of Tau Beta Pi (integrity, breadth of interest, adaptability, and unselfish activity) and to fostering a spirit of liberal culture on local, national, and international scales.  

Dr. James E. Drewry, Virginia Alpha ’60,  retired executive vice president and COO of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is the 2001 Tau Beta Pi Distinguished Alumnus and will be honored on October 20, 2001, at the 96^th annual National Convention to be held in Columbus, Ohio.  Tau Beta Pi President Douglas M. Green, P.E., will present a commemorative plaque and a $500 scholarship to be given in his name to the engineering college of his choice.

Exemplifying the ideals of the organization as a person of superior scholarship and exemplary character, Dr. Drewry has demonstrated visionary leadership combined with strong management and interpersonal skills throughout his 33-year professional career.  His wide-ranging achievements include scientific research, technology development and commercialization, product development, strategic business development, and executive management in the fields of aerospace, energy, and environment.  He has throughout his career maintained an interest in the education of college students.  Dr. Drewry measured his own performance throughout his career by asking himself the question—“Am I making a worthwhile difference?”

Dr. Drewry has made a difference since early in his career.  From the University of Virginia he earned degrees in aeronautical engineering and from the University of Toronto he earned a doctorate in aerospace sciences.  He performed extensive graduate research in the diverse areas of supersonic aerodynamic molecular beams and in high Mach-number nonequilibrium gas flows in a shock tube.  His work as a civilian scientist at Wright-Patterson AFB involved leading-edge research in the development of supersonic combustion ramjets and high-energy gas laser systems.  Dr. Drewry taught undergraduate and graduate courses in science and engineering as an adjunct professor at the Air Force Institute of Technology and at Wright State University.  His work has been published extensively and was presented nationally and internationally during the 1960s, 70’s and 80’s.

From 1978-87, Dr. Drewry worked at the Gas Research Institute, a not-for-profit membership organization of the natural gas industry.  There he was vice president of R&D and technology transfer from 1984-87.  From 1987-90, he served as vice president and general manager of the Toledo division of Teledyne CAE, an $80 million, 700-employee manufacturer of small gas turbines.  He led the company in streamlining and in increasing productivity, implementing a master production plan involving a manufacturing-cell concept. 

            For the past 11 years he has served as the executive vice president of ORAU, a not-for-profit corporation and a consortium of 85 universities and colleges.  He was the first director of the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), a DOE facility managed and operated by ORAU.

             Under Dr. Drewry's leadership during the past decade, the annual operating revenues for ORAU  grew from $46 million to more than $95 million—all while leading the organization through major cultural changes in business management and continuous improvement, resulting in numerous business quality awards for the organizations. 

            Dr. Drewry’s public service includes fundraising for the United Way and the American Heart Association, as well as service on the board of directors of the Tennessee Center for Research and Development, the board of directors and secretary/treasurer for the East Tennessee Economic Council, and the board of directors for the WATTec Society and the Tennessee Technology Conference.

Because of his scientific and technical achievements in the engineering profession, his commitment to excellence in education, and for his visionary leadership in management of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Tau Beta Pi is extremely proud to present its top national award for alumni to Dr. James E. Drewry.