Donald Veal, ’53 civil engineering, died Jan. 20, 2019, in Longmont, Colorado.
Veal, who served as president of the University of Wyoming from 1981 to 1987, was honored by South Dakota State as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1983 and as a Distinguished Engineer in 2015.
After the Chance, South Dakota, native graduated from State, he entered the U.S. Air Force Pilot Training Program, was discharged in 1957, and began graduate school, first at State and then the University of Wyoming.
While there, he taught in the civil engineering department and flew as a research pilot. He also flew for the U.S. Forest Service and gave private instruction, logging more than 11,000 hours in the cockpit.
Veal served the University of Wyoming in several capacities, including professor, assistant director of the Natural Resources Research Institute, the first head of the Department of Atmospheric Science, which he started and nurtured; vice president for research, and ultimately, president.
After nearly 30 years at the University of Wyoming, Veal retired to become president and chief executive officer of Particle Measuring Systems in Boulder, Colorado, a company that specializes in manufacturing instruments to optically observe small particles in various media. He held that position for eight years.
Veal received the Medallion Service Award from the University of Wyoming in 1990. He also is a member of the Wyoming Engineering and Wyoming Aviation halls of fame.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Bonita, in 2017.
