Texas Tech University

Distinguished Engineer Citations

                 
Distinguished Engineer Photo: Allan J. Tomlinson, Jr.
Allan J. Tomlinson, Jr.

Allan J. Tomlinson, Jr.

Distinguished Engineer

1981

Degree

Chemical Engineering – 1954

 

Citation

At Time of Nomination in 1981

Allan J. Tomlinson, a Houston native, received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Texas Tech in 1954. After graduation he spent four years in the US. Air Force and then entered the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration where he received an M.B.A. in 1960.

Mr. Tomlinson began his professional career as marketing manager for Dow Chemical Company in 1960. In August 1966, he was employed by McKinsey & Co. in Cleveland, Ohio, as a business consultant. It was not until August 1968 that he joined Diamond Shamrock Corporation, where he is new president and chief operating officer.

His engineering and business abilities merged to accelerate his truly meteoric rise within the Corporation. He joined Diamond Shamrock as manager of corporate planning; and in 1969, he became director of planning for Diamond Shamrock Chemical Company, a unit of the Corporation. In 1972, he was appointed director of corporate development, and in 1975 he was elected an executive vice president–planning and development. He was elected an executive vice president of the Corporation and became president of the International and Diversified Technology Unit in August 1978. Then, in April 1980, he was elected to his present position as president and chief operating officer of the Corporation.

His business acumen has been called upon in other capacities, as he is now a member of the Board of Directors of the Republic National Bank in Dallas. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Chemical Manufacturers Association.

Mr. Tomlinson takes his civic duties seriously and at the present time is a member of the Advisory Council and the Executive Education Committee for the University of Texas at Dallas; is a member of the Advisory Board for INROADS/Dallas; and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Dallas Ballet Company.

He is known for a great sense of humor and a very sharp wit which can impale the unwary in a verbal joust.

Al Tomlinson is a very close family man who spends many hours with his three teenage children. He is an avid reader of books ranging from archaeology and historical novels to the documentation of events of "the wild west" as chronicled by Louis L’Amour.

Texas Tech University is very proud to claim Allan J. Tomlinson, Jr. as its own and to name him a DISTINGUISHED ENGINEER.

Return to the Past Winners page.