In 2005, the Chemical Engineering department received a $5 million donation from Ralph E. Martin to support research in areas such as biomedical engineering, which applies chemical engineering principles to problems in human health care, and green engineering, which focuses on developing environmentally benign methods of industrial production. In honor of Mr. Martin’s very generous gift, the department was named the Ralph E. Martin Department of Chemical Engineering.

Three endowed faculty chairs, five endowed professorships, and five doctoral fellowships were created by the donation, as well as an increase of the endowment of the Martin Academic Enrichment Fund, which was established in 1994 to enhance the department’s teaching and research programs.

Martin, a native of Eureka Springs, graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1958 and a Master of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1960. He is the founder of PetroFac Inc., of Tyler, Texas, a single-source supplier for the hydrocarbon-processing industry that grew into an international corporation. Currently retired, he continues to serve as chairman of the board. He holds patents for the treatment of emulsions, the desalinization of brackish waters and the desalinization of crude oil.

"I'm grateful for the education I received at the University of Arkansas and it means a lot to me to be able to give back to the institution that gave me so much," he said.

Martin is a member of the College of Engineering Hall of Fame and has provided leadership as a member of the College of Engineering Advisory Council and the College of Engineering Campaign for the Twenty-First Century Committee. Martin is one of the inaugural inductees into the Arkansas Academy of Chemical Engineers.

"This represents an important step toward the overall goal of the College of Engineering: to become and be perceived as one of the top tier graduate and undergraduate engineering programs in the U.S.," said Ashok Saxena, Dean of the College of Engineering.