I recently chatted with Ken Simmons, Class of 1972, and member of the Kellogg Voorhis Legacy Society. I asked what has inspired him to make a bequest to Cal Poly Pomona. Here are some of his comments.
"I really have my education at Cal Poly Pomona to thank for my achievements in my career and being able to live so well. Although I studied Aerospace Engineering, I was only in that field for a very short time. I joined a company involved in energy, then later managed projects in the biotechnology & pharmaceutical industries when commercial biotechnology was in its infancy. I I worked on a project that was trying to develop mRNA technology. At that time, it wasn't sufficiently developed to be used commercially. Now mRNA is the basis of the Pfizer vaccine.
My experience at Cal Poly Pomona taught me how to identify a problem and go about finding solutions for that problem. I applied that lesson on the Alaska Pipeline solving an issue to provide hot water in an extremely low temperature environment in Winter. I used divergent thinking to understand why packaged boiler systems were needed by analyzing the facts and arriving at the simplest solution that would solve the problem.
My education allowed me to live and work all over the world, including Saudi Arabia, England, Switzerland, Denmark, Ireland, China and Australia and throughout the United States.
I really appreciate my time at Cal Poly Pomona and want to give back to their excellent education."
