CUNNING, Dr. Joe D.
CUNNING
Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 9/27/2015 at 00:43:59
Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, April 09, 2015, Page 1Cunning into ISU Hall of Fame
Iowa State University chemical engineering alumni Dr. Joe D. Cunning was inducted into the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Hall of Fame March 27.
Cunning received a commemorative plaque in his honor placed on the department's Hall of Fame wall in Sweeney Hall. Family members from Pennsylvania, Florida and Mount Ayr attended the ceremony.
The brother of local businessman Dan Cunning, Joe Cunning was valedictorian of the 1954 graduating class of Mount Ayr High School. According to family members, during his senior year he ended up teaching a high school math class when the teacher became very ill. He also set up his own radio station and photographic darkroom in his home and was considered a talented lineman on the football team.
Cunning received three chemical engineering degrees at Iowa State - a B.S. in 1958, an M.S. in 1962 and a Ph.D. in 1965. He has risen to worldwide prominence in the field of exploratory, long-range fiber research. He spent 28 years working with the DuPont Company, working in research and development of different fiber types and headed the corporation's Pioneering Research Laboratory. Since 1991 he has been president of Cunning & Associates, Ltd., which provides consulting services for the textiles research and development community.
Cunning was awarded the College of Engineering Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering (PACE) award from Iowa State in 1988 and currently serves on the Iowa State University Foundation's Board of Governors. He is also an advisor to the National Textile Center, a clustered research consortium of eight universities.
Photograph courtesy of Mount Ayr Record-News
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2015
Ringgold Biographies maintained by Tony Mercer.
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