NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Engineers are known for making sure that all
loose ends are tied up. For William Morrison, the one loose end was an
unfinished master’s degree in engineering at Vanderbilt University.
Morrison will receive his degree May 14 not as a beginning to his
career, but as a capstone. That’s because at age 80, Morrison is
finishing a degree he began when he was just 25.
Morrison received his undergraduate degree in engineering from
Vanderbilt in 1949 and immediately began work on his master’s degree.
He left in 1950 to take a job with Phillips Petroleum without
completing the degree.
"Mr. Morrison had a distinguished career as an engineer at Phillips
Petroleum’s facilities in Texas and Idaho," said Kenneth Galloway, dean
of the Vanderbilt School of Engineering. "After he retired, it occurred
to him there was something that he had left unfinished. He was very
determined to finish that piece of unfinished work and complete his
master of engineering degree.
"At first we didn’t know what to think, but when we understood what
he wanted to do and what it meant to him, we were quite enthusiastic
about helping him realize this goal," Galloway continued.
After reviewing his records, Galloway and his colleagues determined
Morrison was just three credit hours short of completing his degree. He
enrolled in a special topics course and submitted the required paper to
fulfill the requirements for a master of engineering.
Morrison said a variety of factors kept him from completing his degree in 1950.
"I spent all of 1950 working on my master’s degree and got all of
the curriculum done except for the thesis," he said. "Maybe two or
three things caused me not to finish the thesis-the main one being that
I was not happy with it. And I was going to school on the G.I. bill and
I ran out of money."
Morrison left Vanderbilt and went to work for Phillips at the
Philtex Experiment Station in Borger, Texas, where he spent seven years
in the chemical engineering division. He obtained three patents for his
work there on a liquid extraction process used in the nuclear industry.
In 1952, Morrison married Vanderbilt School of Nursing graduate
Frances Scott, whom he had met while a student at Vanderbilt. Frances
Morrison died in 2002.
Morrison transferred to Phillips’ facility in Idaho Falls in 1957,
where he worked in the chemical processing plant with nuclear fuel
elements until his retirement in 1983.
He continued to work with the American Nuclear Society on an
international committee that studied issues related to nuclear
criticality and safety controls for fissionable materials outside of
reactors. He stepped down from the committee in 2002.
Morrison said he just wanted to finish what he had started when asked why he chose to seek his master’s degree now.
"It was something that was kind of hanging over my head all of these years," he said. "I just wanted to complete it."
In addition to wrapping up his academic career, Morrison enjoys
playing bridge and is an avid dancer. He is coming to Nashville for the
graduation ceremony and is particularly looking forward to dancing at
the University-hosted party on the Peabody Campus lawn prior to
graduation.
"I think Bill Morrison is one of the most interesting characters
I’ve ever met," Galloway said. "We are thrilled that we could help him
achieve his goal."
Media contact: Melanie Catania, (615) 322-NEWS
Melanie.catania@vanderbilt.edu