Alumni
Engineering Alumni Mentoring Program
The freshman professional development class connects students to mentors. To become a mentor email Mr. James Gordan at jagordan@pvamu.edu.
PVAMU Engineering Alumni, Tell us your STORY!!
We want to hear your story. Not only do we want to hear it, we want to share it with the Roy G. Perry College of Engineering family. We want everyone to know how wonderful our alumni are. You can also share the story of a fellow alumnus who may not want to brag, but you do and so do we. This is a forum to tell and share the good news of the Prairie View A&M College of Engineering Alumni.
Prominent Alumni
From the time Prairie View awarded its first engineering degree in 1947 to today’s cutting-edge scholarship and research, our alumni’s careers have been the litmus test for the success of our engineering program. Needless to say, our graduates are a true credit to the Prairie View name. Among them are:
Nathelyne Archie Kennedy ’59
Nathelyne Archie Kennedy ’59, our first female engineering graduate, received a bachelor of science degree in Architectural Engineering in 1959. Kennedy is founder, president and chief executive officer of Kennedy and Associates in Houston – a minority-owned, woman-owned and women-operated civil/structural consulting engineering firm. Kennedy was one of the first African-American women in Texas to be registered as a professional engineer.
Kennedy has made many contributions in Houston, Such as in the construction of the Reliant Stadium, Minute Maid Park, and the Light Metro Rail System.
Dr. Samuel Metters ’57
Dr. Samuel Metters ’57, founder of Metters Industries, a systems engineering research and development company. Metters Industries has six offices nationwide that manufacture products for military and commercial use and meet information technology needs. Metters is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and a former instructor at the U.S. Army Air Defense Missile Center. He received a bachelor of science degree in Architectural Engineering in 1957.
Walter O. Crook ’69
Walter O. Crook ’69, who retired in 2003 as district engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Beaumont district. Crook spent 35 years as a TxDOT engineer, where he oversaw construction, supervised contractor operations, coordinated public transportation grant programs and served as a planning engineer. He received a bachelor of science degree in Architectural Engineering in 1969.
James A. Cheatham ’71
James A. Cheatham ’71, yet another leader in the transportation field, graduated in 1971 with a bachelor of science in Civil Engineering. As a federal highway division administrator for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Cheatham is responsible for administering the Federal Aid Program for Pennsylvania. Cheatham is an Army brigadier general and serves as an officer in the U.S. Corps of Engineers.
Roy G. Perry ’78
Roy G. Perry ’78 is a leader in the technology industry who has obtained numerous awards and accolades for his expertise in supply chain engineering and manufacturing. Perry received a bachelor of science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1978.
Perry is a Sloan Fellow and also holds a master’s degree in Management from Stanford University, a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University. Perry was a 2003 winner of the Professional Achievement in Industry Award at the Black Engineer of the Year Conference and currently sits on the Capital Planning Committee for Prairie View A&M University.
Duwana D. Johnson Williams ’94
Duwana D. Johnson Williams ’94, received a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Prairie View A&M in 1994. A leader at Corporate Holcim (US), she is the first and only African-American female manager of 2500 employees. She is currently Manager of Process Improvement in Dundee, Michigan and has served as a Production Manager and Maintenance Manager in other cities in the U.S. She is a Corporate Leadership Trainer and represents her company as a member of the University Cluster. Williams is active in community affairs, a member of the National Society of Black Engineers, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineering. Williams holds an MBA from Lindenwood University.
Darrin Barber ’02
Darrin Barber ’02 discovered an interest in engineering after attending the Engineering and Science Concepts Institute (ESCI) summer program at Prairie View A&M. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was inducted into the Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate program during his junior year at the Prairie View A&M. Barber graduated in 2002 with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering with a minor in mathematics. His degree enables him to work as a nuclear engineer aboard a U.S. Navy submarine and he is currently stationed in Newport News. Virginia.