Capstone Engineer

In Memory

JOHNNY G. ARMSTRONG

Johnny G. Armstrong died July 28, 2019, in Lancaster, California. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and raised in Tuscaloosa. After high school, Armstrong worked as a summer aide at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. He graduated from The University of Alabama in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering. In 1957, Armstrong became an Air Force lieutenant at the Air Force Flight Test Center headquartered at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He worked on the YB-58A test team and became the first non-rated Air Force officer to fly at Mach 2 in the aircraft. Armstrong left active duty in 1961 and continued working on flight tests at Edwards, where he worked for the majority of his 55-year career. His first assignment as a civilian in 1962 was as a flight planner on the joint U.S. Navy/NASA/U.S. Air Force X-15 flight test program. He also worked on the F-104, lifting bodies such as HL-10, M2-F3, X-24A and X-24B. Armstrong’s career included work on space and hypersonic vehicles such as the X-33, X-34, X-37, X-38/X-40A Future-X, X-43 Hyper-X, and X-51 Waverider. He became the Hypersonics Combined Test Force Chief Engineer in 2004 and retired from the position on February 6, 2012. Armstrong was named a Distinguished Engineering Fellow at The University of Alabama in 1991.

LT. COL. NORMAN K. “KEN” DYSON

Lt. Col. Ken Dyson died Aug. 15, 2019. Born in Marshall, Texas, he graduated from Texarkana Texas High School in 1956. After graduating from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree, Dyson earned a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from The University of Alabama in 1971. He was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force for 22 years, where he spent five years as a tactical fighter pilot and 15 years as a military test pilot. Dyson flew two tours in Southeast Asia and was on two classified programs, Have Blue and Tacit Blue. After retiring from the Air Force, he joined Rockwell International as an engineering test pilot. Dyson flew the first flight X-31 Post Stall Aircraft and retired as chief test pilot and director of flight test in 1993. He received the Legion of Merit, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, nine air medals, was named an Engineering Fellow of the Test Pilot School, was inducted into the Lancaster Aerospace Walk of Honor and was included in Aviation Week and Space Technology’s Aerospace Laurels. Dyson was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow in 1993.

E. GLENN BISHOP SR.

Glenn Bishop died July 24, 2019, in Birmingham. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, and raised in Birmingham, he graduated from Ramsay High School in 1958. Bishop then attended The University of Alabama where he was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1964 and a master’s degree in 1966, both in civil engineering. For seven years, Bishop worked at Hudson and Associates. He then founded his own firm, E. Glenn Bishop and Associates, in 1973. The structural and civil engineering firm, now named LBYD, has five offices and more than 100 employees today. Bishop was named a Fellow of the UA civil engineering department, the UA College of Engineering and the American Council of Engineering Companies, and he was selected to the Alabama Construction Hall of Fame and the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame. Bishop was a past chairman of the UA College of Engineering Leadership Board and the Council of American Structural Engineers National Guidelines Committee, and he was a past president of the American Consulting Engineers Council of Alabama. Bishop served on the Board of Advisors of the UA civil engineering department and the University of Alabama at Birmingham civil engineering department. He worked on the Board of Directors of the Alabama Concrete Industries Association and the Construction Education Foundation of Alabama. Bishop was an engineering advisor for the state of Alabama’s Board of Registration and a trustee for the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. One of his professional accomplishments was the expansion of The University of Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium. He was a member of the American Institute of Steel Construction, American Society of Civil Engineers and International Code Council.

CHARLES JACKSON “JACK” GRANADE JR.

Charles Jackson “Jack” Granade Jr., of Mobile, died May 16, 2019. Born in Attalla, he was raised in Grove Hill and graduated from Grove Hill High School. Garanade earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in civil engineering from The University of Alabama in 1967 and 1969 respectively. He worked as a professional engineer for both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Thompson Engineering. Granade helped design the RSA Trustmark Building, RSA Battlehouse Tower, Austal USA shipbuilding hangars and the GulfQuest National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico.

THE HONORABLE ALVIN PAUL DUPONT SR.

The Honorable Alvin Paul DuPont Sr., of Tuscaloosa, died July 31, 2019, in Canton, Texas. He graduated from The University of Alabama with a degree in civil engineering in 1961. After graduating, DuPont became an employee of the city of Tuscaloosa, working as city engineer and then city planning director. DuPont served five terms as mayor of Tuscaloosa. His final term ended in 2005. He worked on the Holy Spirit Catholic Church’s site selection committee, when the church moved locations, and the building committee, for the design and construction of the structure. In 1995, DuPont was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow.

EDWIN MILTON HARDIN

Edwin Milton Hardin, of Chelsea, died May 8, 2019. Hardin served with an engineer combat battalion in World War II and the Korean conflict. After his service, he earned a bachelor’s degree from The University of Alabama in civil engineering in 1956. Hardin first worked for Walter Schoel Engineering, and in 1963, he joined Rust International Corporation. In 1989, he was named vice president-operations at Rust. He also served as president of Rust Engineering of New York, North Carolina and Michigan, and vice president of Pullman Power of Ohio. Hardin retired in 1992. He served as vice chair and chairman of the Alabama State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. He was also active in the Alabama and National Society of Professional Engineers, the American Iron and Steel Engineers, American Society of Military Engineers and the American Society of Engineering Education. Hardin helped form and charter the Birmingham Chapter of the American Society of Certified Engineering Technicians. He founded the Engineering Advisory Council at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and served as its first chairman. In 1988, Hardin was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow. In 1993, he was inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame.

JOHN WILEY LEWIS JR.

John Wiley Lewis Jr., of Birmingham, died May 25, 2019. A graduate of Ramsay High School, he earned achemical engineering bachelor’s degree in 1942 from The University of Alabama. He also played the tubain the Million Dollar Band. Lewis served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy on the USS Norton Sound duringWorld War II. After the war, he received a master’s degree at the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy.Lewis and his brother, Jack, owned and operated Dixie Fire Brick Company in Alabama, which laterbecame A.P. Green Refractories. He was named a Distinguished Fellow by the College of Engineeringat The University of Alabama in 2002. Lewis served on the board of trustees at First United Methodist Church of Birmingham, where he was a lifelong member.

BUELL VERNON MOORE

Buell Vernon Moore died in Birmingham Nov. 8, 2019. Born in Logan, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was accepted into the V-5 Aviation Cadet Training Program. A 1949 mechanical engineering graduate of The University of Alabama, Moore began his career with Chicago Bridge & Iron Company. In 1959, he moved his family to London where he worked in sales in Europe, the Middle Eastand Africa and traveled the world. Moore started at CB&I as an engineer and draftsman and eventually became president of the company. He was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow in 1988.

DR. WILLIAM HARRINGTON TRANTER

Dr. William Harrington Tranter, of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, died May 5, 2019. Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, his family later moved to Dothan. Tranter earned all three of his degrees —bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate — in electrical engineering from The University of Alabama in 1964,1965 and 1970 respectively. He served as an assistant and associate dean of engineering from 1980 to 1985 at the University of Missouri-Rolla and was named Schlumberger Professor in 1985. In 1997, Tranter was named the Bradley Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech and was a member of the Mobile and Radio Research Group. From 2009 to 2011, he served as a program director of the National Science Foundation’s Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate. Tranter contributed chapters to a number of books and published more than 75 research journal and conference papers. He also co-authored several undergraduate textbooks in the communications area. Throughout his career, Tranter was active in the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers and was named a Fellow in 1985 and a Life Fellow in 2005. He served as a member of the Board of Governors and Director of Journals of the IEEE Communications Society, was elected vice president technical activities, and served an 11-year term as the editor-in-chief of the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. He received an IEEE Centennial Medal in 1984, a Millennium Medal in 2000,the Donald McLellan Meritorious Service Award from the IEEE Communications Society in 2000, and the Publications Exemplary Service Award in 2001. In 1988, Tranter was named a UA Distinguished Engineering Fellow.