ALUMNI ECHOES

Gregory A. Lorton

BS/ChemE 1971, MS/ChemE 1973

May 3, 2011

Gregory A. Lorton of San Diego, Calif., has air quality issues.

The University of Arizona chemical engineering alumnus works for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command as the manager of the Air Quality Team, and for the Navy Region Southwest as the Air Quality Program Manager. In these dual roles Lorton oversees a team of six engineers and scientists that provide technical and regulatory support for air quality environmental issues for Navy facilities in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. He's also the subject matter expert for greenhouse gases and climate change as they relate to Navy facilities in the Southwest Region.

Lorton is a registered as a professional chemical engineer in California, Arizona and Hawaii, and is registered as a professional engineer in Colorado. He's taken time from his busy schedule to answer questions for the readers of Arizona Engineer:

How has your UA education benefitted you?

I received both a BS and an MS in chemical engineering from the UA. The emphasis on practicality in both degree programs was important to me at several stages in my career. My first job as I was finishing my MS was as a process design engineer for a large engineering company in the Los Angeles area. I was assigned to design a process for removing sulfur compounds from fuel products in a shale oil refinery. The process was nearly identical to the process design project in the senior year of my BS program. The lessons learned from the process design class project allowed me to make significant contributions in my first job assignment, and this led to a promotion within a year of starting on the job.

Greg Lorton

I designed my MS program with a heavy emphasis on environmental topics, taking many courses in environmental engineering (in the Civil Engineering Department at that time) along with the required chemical engineering course. In the mid-1980s, I switched careers from chemical process design to environmental engineering. Much of the material from the MS coursework was directly relevant to my subsequent environmental engineering work.

What are your favorite memories from you time at UA?

The class that I graduated with in chemical engineering in 1971 was a small one, with roughly 15 of us. There was quite a bit of camaraderie as we progressed through the program. Three of us in the 1971 class stayed on at UA to get our master’s degrees. Through these years we studied together and socialized together, also. It was not uncommon for the majority of us to break from study sessions in the afternoons to go over and pick up a baseball game at what was to become Sancet field. I made a lot of good friends in grad school, including a shaggy-haired guy who had come from Tufts University to get his MS at UA, Tom Peterson (dean of the UA College of Engineering from 1998 to 2008 and current head of the engineering directorate at the National Science Foundation).

Tell us something about yourself that people might be surprised to learn.

Although I continue to do chemical engineering, primarily in support of air pollution sources and control, I have been transitioning to a greater focus on business and management. I earned an MBA in 1986 (Cal State Los Angeles), and a doctor of business administration (DBA) degree with a concentration in strategic management in 2006 (Alliant International University). I am now teaching one or two courses at a time throughout the year in strategic management, international business, and environmental management. I am currently the dissertation chairperson for eight DBA students.

What are your reasons for supporting UA financially?

I am appreciative of the practical aspects of the engineering education that I received at UA. But probably more so, I received a scholarship during my MS program that covered tuition costs and waived out-of-state tuition, since I was a California resident. Because of that scholarship, I have felt obliged to support the UA.

Tell us about your hobbies and pastimes.

With my DBA, I spend a lot of time keeping up with current business and strategy issues. I also continue a life-long interest in railroads, and dabble in model railroading from time to time. My current interest is narrow-gauge railroads. But my biggest passion is in making and enjoying beer and mead. I have been making beer and mead for 25 years, and am a registered beer judge. I also would love to combine my interest in distillation (learned as a chemical engineering student) with my interest in distilled alcoholic beverages, but that’s not yet legal in California (smiles).

What are your hopes for the future of UA?

When I graduated and got a job in LA, most people were more familiar with ASU than UA, primarily because of ASU’s success in athletics at the time. But since then, I’ve seen a gradual increase in public stature both in academics and research, and in athletics. It’s great to see the success that UA has had in many sports, but I am most proud when I see the school prominently positioned in academics and research.

Describe something remarkable or noteworthy you have experienced since graduating.

My dissertation in the DBA program focused on the application of strategic management techniques to environmental management systems. I received the outstanding DBA student award when I graduated in 2006. And on the homebrewing front, I received national gold medals for a traditional mead and a German dark lager in 2001, a Baltic porter in 2005, and a classic American pilsner in 2006.


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