Western Research Institute Announces New Chairperson Ralph Shirts!
The Board of Directors of Western Research Institute is pleased to announce that it has elected Ralph Shirts as its next Chairperson. Mr. Shirts replaces Dr. Myron Allen, who has served as Chairperson for the past 7 years.
Mr. Shirts has been sitting on the Board of Directors of WRI since 2021, and was assuming the role of Vice-Chairperson until now. He is president of Ralph Shirts Consulting LLC, and consults globally with petroleum asphalt-related industries. As an emeritus member and two time past chairman of the Asphalt Institute, he is an influential global industry leader. He was the founding chairman of the Asphalt Institute Foundation, where he still serves on the board of directors. He retired as a global executive from ExxonMobil after 36 years, most recently managing ExxonMobil’s asphalt technology business. In 2017 he was elected to the Asphalt Institute’s Roll of Honor. He holds a B.S. in civil engineering from Union College and is a veteran, having served in the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Dr. Myron B. Allen, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Wyoming, authored or co-authored six graduate-level books on mathematics. From 2005-2013, Dr. Allen served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Wyoming. He holds an A.B. from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. from Princeton University. He will remain on the Board of Directors of WRI.
WRI is a nonprofit research-and-development institute headquartered in Laramie, Wyoming. The institute’s mission is to partner to innovate, develop, and commercialize technologies using advanced sustainable chemistry, analysis, and innovative engineering, for carbon, natural resources, and wastes.