Alumni Who Inspire: Kief Hess

This month we caught up with Kief Hess, a 43-year veteran chemical engineer with decades of expertise in shaping safety processes for major companies.

The alumni of the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University (WVU) are more than a network — they’re our community. Whether they graduated last year or decades ago, our alumni continue to inspire, connect and help us create a lasting impact on Mountaineers to come.

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

For this month’s Alumni Who Inspire series, we're honored to feature chemical engineering alumnus Kief Hess. Hess graduated with a BS degree in Chemical Engineering in 1979. He attributes his rewarding 43-year career in the chemical industry — working for prestigious companies such as General Electric Specialty Chemicals, Chemtura Corporation and Lanxess — to the education and training he received at WVU. 

Hess has held multiple positions with increasing responsibility including plant manager and Director of Chemical Process Safety for over 40 Global sites in 12 different countries.

Hello Kief, thanks so much for joining us for our Alumni Who Inspire Program! It's always great to catch up with you. You have had quite the journey! Bring us to its beginnings: why did you choose WVU and engineering?

It’s always good to be back! I grew up in the small town of Keyser, WV. Not really planning on attending college, I signed up for summer school at Potomac State College (located in Keyser) on somewhat of a dare from my good friends.  The purpose was to meet the incoming class of students. After a few weeks, I really enjoyed the professor as well as meeting students who wanted to learn.  

Thinking I wanted to be a pharmacist, I scheduled biology and chemistry classes. After graduating with an associate's in arts degree, I transferred to WVU to pursue pharmacy. However, I met a couple of friends that were engineering students. These guys were different.  They wanted to learn and seemed to know something about everything — cars, home handyman tasks, constructing homes, etc. Pretty awesome!

At the same time, I became a ski instructor at Canaan Valley Resort, so I took minimal credits and found out that I really enjoyed teaching folks the art of snow skiing. My friend encouraged me to register for chemical engineering because several of my credits would transfer. The engineering department was “learn-to-learn” curriculum. The entire three years in chemical engineering taught me to learn-to-learn much through team building, hard work, and a lot of studying.  

I love your beginning of the Mountaineer alumnus story! Tell us something memorable about this journey of persistence and learning.  

Most memorable experiences were meeting the talented students; learning how to solve absolutely very complicated problems and achieving the grade. Long nights studying, self-taught time and great friendships! Professors were extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Course materials were detailed but required students to think and learn. Engaging others to work as teams proved to be very beneficial throughout my career. 

As you went through your experience at WVU and the Statler College, were there any moments of self-doubt or challenges that you had to face and navigate? What did you learn from such experiences that you could share with our readers?   

Absolutely! My college setbacks included failed grades and failed classes. All of it led to increased preparedness to gain improved grades and a more complete understanding of engineering concepts. 

I’ve also since learned that failure leads to the road to success. I've learned from my mistakes. During my career, I've been responsible for multiple facilities and their safety processes with regard to chemical engineering. I learned by watching my previous site leaders investigate incident causes to prevent safety issues in the future. They were thorough and that was a positive leadership quality that I embodied myself too as a process safety director.

You continued to give back to WVU and had been attending and got involved in exclusive events, professional development opportunities, mentorship programs, and even global networking. You helped us reach forward, lifting the next generation of Mountaineers. What continues to motivate you to stay connected?  

I believe in WVU and the power of education! I believe in the power of innovation that engineers have. My belief in WVU ultimately led not only to all the engagement opportunities you mentioned but further, to two of my three sons becoming the Statler College of Engineering graduates! 

We’re proud to count you among our alumni and thank you so much for being a true supporter! Your story and your legacy help keep us connected through generations; we celebrate you. Do you have any advice for current students who are preparing for graduation? 

My career experiences have been condensed in a near-completed book titled “Theory of 8.” The book is my way to give back to students, new engineers, and managers sharing my experiences with safety leadership. My global experiences, investigations, and engineering support all formulated my theory that all incidents have at least 8 causal factors that must be identified and corrected to prevent recurrence.

My advice to others: 

1. One must have unyielding integrity with policy, procedure, and mindfulness. 

2. Learn-to-learn.  Seek expert advice/experiences to further personal knowledge. 

3. Mis-steps, mistakes and minor errors are “gifts” and must be thoroughly corrected and mistake-proofed to prevent re-occurrence.

4. Be a leader in every position you hold. Don’t manage co-workers, lead them to learn and excel.

5. Find a safer and more efficient way tomorrow than was done today. 

Hess’ journey reminds us of an important truth—no matter where and how the path to becoming an engineer started, it was motivated by the desire for continuous learning and giving back! We thank Kief for being part of our alumni family. Like Hess, there are so many Statler alumni here and around the world with amazing stories.

The Alumni Who Inspire! Program in the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources recognizes alumni for their dedication to their professions, our college and West Virginia University. The program was launched in fall 2023 as a monthly discussion board with Statler alumni. Join us next month to learn more the inspiring journeys of our community members. Let’s Go!

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