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WVU ENGINEERING AND MINERAL RESOURCES Volume 2 Issue 2
In Memoriam
James M. Dotson, a loyal alumnus of the
Department of Chemical Engineering and a
member of the department’s Academy of
Chemical Engineers, died at his California
home on June 22 at the age of 83. He
earned his BS in ’48, MS in ’49, and PhD in
’54, all from WVU. He was a member of
three honorary fraternities: Sigma Gamma
Epsilon, Phi Alpha Tau, and Sigma Xi.
After earning his PhD, Dotson went to
work for General Electric, where he
developed an improved fluidized-bed
process for the production of basic silicon
intermediate for the Silicone Products
Department in New York. This patented
process is still used in the production of
essentially all of their intermediate
chlorosilanes. In 1968, he transferred to the
GE-Nuclear Energy Division in California,
where he was awarded two additional
patents.
Dotson was a licensed professional engineer
in New York and California. As a member
of the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers, he held all of the elective offices
of northern California’s section. In 1979, he
was elected to the grade of Fellow. Dotson
was a member of West Virginia University’s
Irvin Stewart Society.
Colonel Robert G. McCall, CEE ’35, passed
away on April 17. McCall was a 2005
charter member of the Department of Civil
and Environmental Engineering’s Academy
of Distinguished Alumni.
He began his career with the Brooke County
Health Department, then worked for the
West Virginia State Health Department until
entering the army as a sanitary engineer
officer in 1943. He returned to the State
Health Department in 1945. The army
recalled McCall at the onset of the Korean
War and he remained in the military until
retiring as a colonel in 1969.
McCall then returned to the Health
Department as director of the Office of
Environmental Health Services until his
1980 retirement. During his career, he
served as trustee for the American Academy
of Environmental Engineers, director of
the American Water Works Association,
trustee of the AWWA Water Quality
Division, and consulting engineer for
Kelley, Gidley, Blair and Wolfe, and for
Thrasher Engineering.
A lifetime member of Tau Beta Pi and Delta
Omega, McCall earned a master’s degree in
sanitary engineering from the University of
North Carolina in 1950. He was a longtime
resident of Charleston, West Virginia.
John Berlen Rader, IE ’60, passed away on
June 9 after a short battle with cancer. Rader
was one of the seven charter members of
the Academy of Industrial Engineers and
one of the biggest supporters of the
department.
After graduating from WVU, Rader worked
for Union Carbide for 35 years, and for the
U.S. Department of Agriculture for five. He
also served as director of the Department of
Natural Resources, where he collaborated
with Rudy Henley and Arnold Palmer to
design and build the golf course at
Stonewall Jackson State Park.
Rader was a member of the Kentucky
Colonels, West Virginia Seniors, West
Virginia Surface Miners, and of the Elks
and Lions Clubs in Cross Lanes, West
Virginia.
William S. Ritchie, Jr., BSCE ’51, passed
away July 8. He began his engineering
career at Boso & Ritchie of Ravenswood in
1950. There he worked on West Virginia’s
initial interstate and Appalachian system
and airports.
In 1968, he became West Virginia’s
Commissioner of Highways. During his
first term, the Department of Highways was
responsible for planning, design, and
construction of interstate highways and
state and local service roads and bridges.
Engineering News Record honored Ritchie as
the runner-up for “Man of the Year” in
1977. He was elected American Association
of State Highway and Transportation
Officials president in 1975. He served as
Associated General Contractors of West
Virginia’s president during this time.
In 1977, he left the State Highway
Department and joined Ashland Coal-
Hobet Mining, becoming president in 1978
and senior vice president of operations in
1979. Ritchie worked for Ashland until
rejoining the State Department of
Highways in 1985. Ritchie retired from
engineering in 1989 and became mayor of
Ravenswood. In retirement, he worked on
building the Ravenswood Senior Citizens
Center and the First United Methodist
Church Fellowship Hall.
William “Bill” Turman, CEE ’50, passed
away on May 16. The civil engineering
graduate formed Turman Construction
Company with his brothers in 1957. The
company is recognized as one of the oldest
and most respected highway, bridge, and
utility companies in the state. Turman
served as president, chief engineer, and
owner since 1972.
He was awarded the Meritorious Service
Award by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
for the more than 200 bridges he built
during his 50-year career. He also formed
and operated Barboursville Bridge
Company, Paul’s Concrete, H and T
Technical Development and Engineering,
and the Barboursville Testing Company.
Turman served numerous years on the
WVU Civil Engineering Advisory
Committee in addition to other boards and
associations. The former WVCA president
also served on the College’s selection
committee and contributed to the WVCA
scholarship fund.
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