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As a result of the Sept. 11 tragedies, William R. Koch '68 took on a challenging new assignment at Air Products and Chemicals, where he has worked for 26 years. Formerly hydrocarbon engineering manager, he is now global director of process integrity.
“Following the attacks, Air Products realized they needed someone to devote all their energy to dealing with the possibility of terrorism,” Koch says. “Air Products had a corporate security department and a process safety department, but no one to bridge the two and serve as point person for security-related information. That's what I do.”
Air Products is reexamining security in four main areas—people, facilities, business transactions, and information.
“What's new about all this is having to go back and look at our security measures with the idea that some group could intentionally attack one of our plants,” says Koch. “We're developing global security standards. Air Products has facilities in 30 countries outside the United States. That's 600 plants and 17,500 people. We have plants in the Middle East, South and Central America, all over Asia—our security operations have to be specific to each area.”
Koch, a chemical engineering graduate, holds a master's in chemical engineering from University of Oklahoma. He is also working with American Chemistry Council on a task force to improve overall security of the U.S. chemical industry. So far, the ACC has issued site and transportation security guidelines.
William R. Koch ’68