Emmett E. Hixon
Emmett Hixon graduated from New Mexico State University in 1939 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Business Administration, supported by a football scholarship. After graduation, he began his career at Hercules Inc., a chemical company in Wilmington, Delaware. He initially worked at the Hercules Research Center before transferring to the Parlin, New Jersey Chemical Manufacturing Operations.
During World War II, Hixon served as an executive in manufacturing military explosives and played a key role in training management personnel for other government ordnance plants. In 1948, he transitioned to Marketing and Sales, ultimately concluding a 42‑year career at Hercules, Inc. as the Director of the Transportation Industry Marketing Division. For the last 20 years of his career, he was based in Detroit, focusing on the global transportation industry.
Hixon was deeply involved in major automotive industry societies such as SAE, SPE, SPI, and ACS, contributing to numerous plastic applications. In 1978, he was honored as an Outstanding Member of the Detroit section of the Society of Plastics Engineers. In 1980, he received the Outstanding Alumni Award from New Mexico State University. Beyond Hercules, Hixon served on the Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Transportation in Washington, D.C., and collaborated with NASA to transfer aerospace technology to the automotive industry.