Ray A. Mentzer

Ray received his BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois, and MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Purdue. Following a 28-year career with ExxonMobil and eight years teaching Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, he returned to his graduate school alma mater and is a Professor of Engineering Practice in the School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue.  He teaches the required senior level ‘Chemical Process Safety’ course.  He is also the Executive Director of the Purdue Process Safety & Assurance Center, which is engaged in research to prevent major industrial incidents, like Bhopal or Fukushima. The Center has +20 industrial sponsors and is typically engaged in ~25 research projects per year.

Ray began his career in 1980 at the Exxon Upstream Research Center in Houston.  He had over a dozen assignments during his 28-year career with ExxonMobil in oil & gas operations, major project design, financial planning, and public affairs. He retired as the Safety, Health, Environment and Security manager.  His assignments were in Houston (3x), New Orleans and London, with work taking him across the globe. Over the years he served on many industry Committees such as with ACC, API, OGP, UKOOA and Center for LNG. 

After retiring from Exxon in 2008 he joined the Chemical Engineering Department at Texas A&M University.  He taught three courses including ‘Chemical Process Safety’ and ‘Oil & Gas Processing.’ He was engaged in a wide variety of process safety research activities overseeing many graduate students as a member of the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center. 

Ray’s wife Beverly is a Chemical Engineer from LSU, retired after 33 years with ExxonMobil and currently the Industrial Career Counselor in Chemical Engineering at Purdue.  They have a son and daughter, with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Economics, and one grandson.