National Academies Press: OpenBook

Memorial Tributes: Volume 4 (1991)

Chapter: Joel Franklin Monroe Leathers

« Previous: Francis Lawrence LaQue
Suggested Citation:"Joel Franklin Monroe Leathers." National Academy of Engineering. 1991. Memorial Tributes: Volume 4. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1760.
×
Page 201
Suggested Citation:"Joel Franklin Monroe Leathers." National Academy of Engineering. 1991. Memorial Tributes: Volume 4. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1760.
×
Page 202
Suggested Citation:"Joel Franklin Monroe Leathers." National Academy of Engineering. 1991. Memorial Tributes: Volume 4. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1760.
×
Page 203
Suggested Citation:"Joel Franklin Monroe Leathers." National Academy of Engineering. 1991. Memorial Tributes: Volume 4. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1760.
×
Page 204
Suggested Citation:"Joel Franklin Monroe Leathers." National Academy of Engineering. 1991. Memorial Tributes: Volume 4. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1760.
×
Page 205
Suggested Citation:"Joel Franklin Monroe Leathers." National Academy of Engineering. 1991. Memorial Tributes: Volume 4. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1760.
×
Page 206

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

al tOEL FRANKLIN MONROE ( LEVI ) LEATH E RS 1920-1987 BY RAYMOND F. BOYER WITH ASSISTANCE FROM NUMEROUS OTHERS jOEL F~N~IN MONROE (LEVI) LEATHERS, considered to be among the worId's outstanding process engineers as well as a great innovator in research, pilot plant, production, and management, died June I, 1987, at the age of sixty-seven. Levi Leathers spent his entire career with Dow Chemical Company, where in 1941 he began as a second-cIass oiler in the power house of the old Texas Division and in 1976 was named vice-president of Manufacturing and Engineer- ing Technology, assuming worldwide responsibility for en- suring the coordinated development and use of Dow's most advanced manufacturing and engineering capabilities. As he is described affectionately, Levi Leathers was the genu- ine article, a bear of a man whose accomplishments loomed larger than life and whose brilliant mind led to major im- provements in Dow's manufacturing operations. As Levi liked to say, "If it doesn't work, there is a reason why. If it does work, there is a way to make it work better." Born and raised in Guy's Store, Texas, Levi received his B.S. in chemistry in 1941 from Sam Houston State Univer- sity, Huntsville. He then joined Dow in the Power Depart- ment of the Texas Division in Freeport, Texas, and later that year transferred to Dow's Central Laboratory at Freeport as a control chemist. Between 1943 and 1945 he worked in several Texas Division laboratories as a chemist, and from 201

202 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES 1945 to 1947 he held a variety of Texas Division technical management positions including project leader, assistant plant superintendent, and assistant laboratory director. Continuing on at the Texas Division, Levi was named director of the Organic Pilot Plant Laboratory in 1954, director of Research and Development in 1961, and general manager of the Texas Division in 1966. Then, as it is said, Texas wasn't big enough to hold Levi. He became director of operations for Dow Chemical U.S.A. in 1968, a Dow Company vice-president in 1970, a member of the board of directors in 1971, and executive vice-president of Dow U.S.A. in ~ 971. In 1978 Levi was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his "leadership in large-scale chemical processes which advanced the U.S. chemical industry into a world leadership position." He was also a member of the Ameri- can Chemical Society, American Institute of Chemical En- gineers, Society of Chemical Industry American Section, and Technology Assessment Advisory Council of the Office of Technology Assessment. In 1972 he was presented an honorary doctor of engineering degree from Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, and in 1977 a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Sam Houston State University. He served as a member of the boards of directors of Cordis Dow Corporation of Miami, Florida, a Dow associated company; the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company of St. Louis, Missouri; and the Magma Power Company of Los Angeles, California. A. L. Johnson, president of Magma, recalls Levi's broad range of concerns for chemical engineering and power generation. Before Levi served on the board of directors of the power company, which was located in the Imperial Valley of California, hot brine (with 200 parts per million of dissolved salts) was pumped from the earth and flash evaporated to produce steam for power. Levi was espe- cially challenged by the attendant corrosion problems, and Johnson considered Levi a tremendous technical asset to

JOEL FRANKLIN MONROE (LEVI) LEATHERS 203 Magma's operations. One of their power plants is named "The I. M. Leathers Plant." During the period 1959 to 1977, Levi was the inventor or co-inventor for eight U.S. process or apparatus patents assigned to the Dow Chemical Company. He always longed for the Texas-size challenge. When it came, he was ready. In 1973 he took on the energy crisis with his war on British thermal units. Under his leadership, Dow technology not only sur- vived the crisis but also emerged leaner and more competitive. Fellow board member H. D. Doan, a grandson of H. H. Dow and former president of Dow Chemical, knew Levi for over thirty years and described Levi as the most dedicated man he had ever met. He noted that we are all better off if we believe in something bigger than we are religion or country or home. He said, for Levi it was Dow. Levi loved his wife, Katie, and his children. He also lover} Dow. He had an instinctive rapport with people who put Dow above themselves. That was a requirement and he did not think that was very complicated. It is Dow's strategy to be the best in commodity chemicals and to add to that base several specialty lines. That strategy is proclaimed at the top, but it is in reality a reflection of Levi's leadership in process work that allowed others to adopt it. It also was Levi and Ben Branch, retired head of Dow International and president of Dow Chemical Company, who pushed that process work all over the world so that today that strategy is working. That can remain a lesson for us today. It is always genius down below that makes strategy possible not the other way around. And genius does not care who gets the credit as long as the work gets done. An c! that was Levi. However, a retired engineer who worked closely with Levi at the time when he was general manager of the Texas Division remembers his outstanding characteristic as "a lasting concern for people." Levi realized that personnel in a large industrial organization might have personal problems related to work, home, or individual traits, problems that

204 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES were counterproductive. This engineer recalled that Levi had a special ability to sense the existence of such problems and would encourage such an individual to talk. He always warned the person seeking his advice that "I can do one of three things: I can help, or I can't help, but I can certainly sympathize." His colleagues recall his zest for life and friends, which often became apparent at dinner meetings, during business trips, or at other group occasions when he eventually would lead the group in singing, with or without piano accompa- niment. Among his favorites were "The Yellow Rose of Texas," "Release Me," and others of that vintage and genre. Life was never dull with Levi around, whether ire work or play. He was tough, but he had a heart much bigger than his tough exterior. He did "good" in the best and most real sense of the worst.

Next: W. Deming Lewis »
Memorial Tributes: Volume 4 Get This Book
×
Buy Hardback | $107.00
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF
  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!