Dr. Douglas Ford exemplifies high standards in his education, work career, church involvement, service to the community, and life that qualify him a Distinguished Alumni of Hallsville High School.
He came from a very humble beginning, from farming parents. He was an outstanding student at Hallsville High School involved in leadership, academic, agricultural, and other activities, including, FFA, Track, Basketball, Class Treasure, National Honor Society, and Jr. Play. He was voted by his class as Most Likely to Succeed and Most Intellectual in the class of 1961.
He received a Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics and chemistry from Letourneau.
He was a co-op student at Oak Ridge National Laboratories in Tennessee as a junior and senior in college.
He graduated from Rice University with a Phd. in theoretical chemical physics under a NASA fellowship. He begins a post-doctoral research position at Cornell University and terminated to become a professor at Letourneau University.
He also was a chemist at Morton Thiokol, a science teacher at Ore City High School, and a chemistry professor at East Texas Baptist University.
He worked for NASA under a fellowship and worked with the space shuttle tiles waterproofing chemistry and invented a glue that is still used today to hold the plastic on space shuttles.
Upon retirement, he began restoring vintage farm equipment, raising sugar cane, making ribbon cane syrup, raising peaches and many other produce for the neighborhood and giving them to the community or taking them to festivals. He educates students at the local Heritage Festival/ Ft. Crawford Reenactment in Hallsville.
Church work: Sunday School, Bus ministry, and Bible Scholar
He is a very intellectual and talented person; and extremely humble and thankful for all the Lord has blessed him with during his lifetime.