Larry D. Hall

Principal Vice President Bechtel Corporation — Houston, Texas

Larry Hall was born and raised in South Charleston. He received his BSChE degree and MSChE degree from West Virginia University in 1963 and 1965, respectively. He received a certificate from Rice University upon completion of the management program in 1985.

Hall joined Union Carbide as a process engineer in 1963. He participated in a number of conceptual studies, process designs and detailed designs and startup for petrochemical and hydrocarbon facilities. His design experience includes plants to produce ethylene plant feedstock, ethylene, alkyl amines, ethanol, vinyl acetate and ethylene oxide/glycol. In 1975 he became a process group leader for ethylene oxide/glycol in which role he led the conceptual design for oxygen-based ethylene oxide commercial facilities as a guide for the R&D catalyst development. This work established the basis for new Union Carbide commercial facilities and conversion of existing air-based plants.

In 1978, Hall joined Bechtel Corporation as an assistant process engineer. He directed the development of a new gas-phase high-density polyethylene  pilot plant and the conceptual and process design for a three-train HDPE commercial facility based on the R&D pilot plant data. In 1982, he became chief engineer and study manager for coal- and coke-fed Texaco- and Westinghouse-technology gasification facilities to produce synthesis gas, hydrogen, methanol, electric power and ammonia. As chief engineer, he also was consulted by Catalytica, Inc. on the development of new catalysts. In 1986, he became manager of the Bechtel process design department.

Hall was promoted in 1987 to engineering manager for project engineering, systems engineering and mechanical engineering for Bechtel’s refinery and chemicals division. He was then assigned as the engineering manager for the Union Carbide/Bechtel Association, where he was responsible for all process and detailed-design disciplines. He completed projects totaling over $550 million for facilities to produce UNIPOL polyolefins, UNIPOL flexomers, oxo-alcohols, Semicon polymers, ethylene oxide/glycol, environmental projects for waste reduction and utility infrastructure projects.

In 1992, he became manager of engineering at the Bechtel Los Angeles, California, Office and was responsible for the engineering support for civil infrastructure, environmental, power and refinery projects in the Los Angeles area. He then became vice president and manager of the Los Angeles office and represented Bechtel in outreach and community events in Southern California. He returned to Houston, Texas, in 1994 and managed the implementation of re-engineered operations for cross-functional EPC work processes. This work also included the implementation of associated technology for global, multi-location, concurrent distributed design and the development of the Bechtel global intranet system. In 1996, he became principal vice president and corporate manager of engineering, and was responsible for the development, enhancement and maintenance of corporate engineering work processes, methods and automation systems. In March 2000, Hall became manager of the Bechtel Global Chemicals Center of Excellence.

Hall married Nancy Hannah in 1966. They have two children, Christopher and Kimberly. He is a member of the NSPE and AIChE, and is a Fellow of the Institute for the Advancement of Engineering. He served on the industrial advisory board for the Engineering Department of California State University at Los Angeles.