Hall of Fame Member Biographies

Karl N. Reid

The achievements of Karl N. Reid at Oklahoma State University and in the engineering program have been nothing less than brilliant.  After earning his B.S. and M.S. degrees at Oklahoma State, Karl Reid obtained in 1964 the Doctor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Upon receiving his doctorate, he was hired as an assistant professor at Oklahoma State; by 1970 he became professor; by 1972 the Head of the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and from 1986 to 2011 the Dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology.  Over these years, Karl Reid dramatically advanced the engineering program at OSU.  Between 1968 and 1972, he was the founding director for the Center for Systems Science; in 1986, he was a founder and director of the Web Handling Research Center; in 1989, he was a founding director of the Oklahoma Center for Integrated Design and Manufacturing.  In 1997 he led the strategic planning for two major research facilities, the Advanced Technology Research Center in Stillwater, and in 2007, the Helmerich Advanced Technology Research Center in Tulsa.  In recognition of his service to the engineering profession, he has been elected as Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1983) and the American Society for Engineering Education (1999). From the ASME he was awarded its Centennial Medallion in 1980; he was selected by his Oklahoma peers in 1988 as the Outstanding Engineer in Oklahoma.  Among his academic credentials are four U.S. patents, four book chapters, and forty journal papers.  Teaching and student advisement remains foremost of his activities.  He has initiated four scholarship and enrichment programs and has since 1993 undertaken 16 student trips abroad and has led 12 of them.  And this list does not include his service to the state as an adviser on science and engineering subjects and his leadership in national and international organizations. Today we thank Karl N. Reid for a career that has so benefited Oklahoma higher education and the people of the state.