Residence: Shadyside
Family: Married; three children, five grandchildren
Occupation: U.S. Steel dean of the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering
Education: Holder earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Kalamazoo College in 1972. He then earned three chemical engineering degrees from the University of Michigan: a bachelor's in 1973, a master's in 1974 and a doctorate in 1976.
Background: Holder has spent 27 years at Pitt. He serves on the Congressional Advisory Panel on Methane Hydrates, a potential future energy source. Holder has served on more than 20 national panels and committees for the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the American Chemical Society and other organizations. He has worked for several major corporations, including ExxonMobil, General Motors and Alcoa. Holder spent three years on Columbia University's chemical engineering faculty until he left for Pitt in 1979. He became chairman of its chemical and petroleum engineering department in 1987 and dean of the engineering school in 1996.
Noteworthy: The Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania named Holder the winner of its 2008 William Metcalf Award for lifetime achievement in engineering.
Quote : "The Metcalf Award acknowledges not just my contributions, but also the contributions of all engineers. Engineers have allowed an extraordinary high standard of living in this country and in many countries throughout the world," Holder said in his acceptance speech.
