Hall of Fame Member Biographies

Gordon Eggleton

Gordon was raised in the university town of Ames, Iowa. In 1965 he received a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Iowa State University where he also met his wife of 53 years, Kay. After receiving his M.A. in Science Education in 1967 and PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Iowa in 1971, Dr. Eggleton joined the faculty of Southeastern State College.

A consummate educator, he spent 40 years sharing his knowledge and love of learning with students in the areas of General Chemistry, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, Earth Science, Field Geology, Sciences for Elementary Teachers and Scientific Thought for Honors Students. His publications include three books, a monograph, co-author of ten research papers and presentation of thirty-seven papers or posters at professional meetings. He was principal investigator from 1973 to 1996 of NIH-sponsored minority undergraduate student chemistry research which generated over one hundred posters or presentations at state, regional, and national meetings.

The chemistry professor served on numerous university committees during that time. He was faculty sponsor of the Student Affiliate Chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) for 37 years, was chair of the Oklahoma Section of the ACS in 1990 and has been a national member of that organization for 50 years. At Southeastern he was director of the Parsons Scholar program for six years and chaired the University Honors Committee for another six years. He was coordinator of the Southeastern Science/Math Resource Center part of an NSF Consortium for Improvement of Math and Science Teaching. Dr. Eggleton positively touched the lives of numerous Oklahoma students as director of the High School Interscholastic Meet (also known as the Curriculum Contest) from 2001 to 2011. He retired from Southeastern in 2011.

He has continued in Oklahoma science education as co-leader in 2015 of “Oklahoma–Texas Evolution Road Trip” for the Oklahoma Scholar Leadership Enrichment Program (OSLEP). For the past 18 years he has served as the science representative on the Program Review Advisory Board of the Oklahoma Office of Educational Quality and Accountability.

Over the years, Dr. Eggleton has received numerous honors, including the Burlington Northern Foundation Award for Outstanding Faculty; the Southeastern Faculty Excellence in Teaching and Service awards; the Faculty Senate Lifetime Achievement Award; the Spirit of Southeastern Award; the Honors Teaching Award; the Jack Renner Distinguished Science Teacher of the Year Award from the Oklahoma Science Teachers Association and the Distinguished Former Faculty Award by the Southeastern Alumni Association. 

Dr. Eggleton and wife Kay are active members of First United Methodist Church of Durant where they have sung in the choir for the past 48 years. They are strong supporters of the Wesley (Methodist) Campus Ministry. The Eggletons have two children, four grandchildren and one great grandchild on the way. Their daughter Jennifer lives in Durant and recently received her MA from Southeastern where she has worked the past 20 years in the Office of Academic Affairs. Son Matthew and his family live in Roselle Park, New Jersey; he is the technical director for the Department of Theatre at Kean State University in Union, New Jersey.