Walter McFall

Walter Donald McFall was born May 1st, 1934, at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois to Walter Orlando and Theresa Larcena McFall. He was the first of four siblings born into this union.

Walter was a son, brother, dad, former husband, father-in-law, granddad, uncle, cousin, colleague, and friend. He tragically lost his father to a fatal robbery when Walter was just seven years old. He immediately turned to help support his mother Theresa, sisters Jackie and Larcena, and brother Ronald by working at a local grocer as a bagger.

He attended Sexton Elementary and Englewood H.S. He married Susan and from their union two children were born, Kevin Walter, and Kelli Susann.

Walter went on to serve in the U.S. Army Reserve, attended IIT, and became a pioneering Chemical Engineer. Influenced by his mother’s job, and because he excelled at science, Walter secured a job at Argonne National Laboratory as a chemical engineer and research scientist. He later discovered another hidden talent in human resources management, where he established and led recruitment programs focusing on hiring underrepresented groups into science and technology for the Laboratory.

In 2000, Walter retired from Argonne, but not before earning the highest honor from the Society of Women in Engineering, the Rodney D. Chip Award in 1997. Walter provided 41 years of service as a scientist and a champion for increasing the number of minorities and women in engineering. He loved to advocate, encourage, and advise those who aspired to work in the sciences, technology, engineering, and math, also known as STEM. Walter was one of the earliest advocates in this area. This became his life’s work. He was an active member of the leading professional associations including AICChe, NSBE, NAMEPA, NOBCChe,, SWE, and WePAN.

Outside of work and family, Walter was also an avid photographer, tennis player, cross-country skier, and a founding member of the Argonne Running Club. As a photographer, he chronicled history including the protests that broke out during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. He was photographing the police response when the now-iconic chant emerged, “the whole world is watching,” was first coined.

As a runner, he ran several Chicago Marathons and became a steadfast marathon volunteer as both a course marshal and in later years one of the volunteers who handed out medals as runners crossed the finish line. Walter has received his medal for crossing the heavenly finish line.
Walter is preceded in death by his father, Walter Orlando, his brother Ronald, his mother Theresa, and his daughter Kelli. He is survived by his former wife Susan, son Kevin (Karin), his granddaughter Nia, his sisters, Jaqueline (the late Raymond) Scott, Larcena (the late Lewis) Vaughns, and numerous beloved cousins, nieces, nephews, colleagues, and friends.
For more about Walter's STEM advocacy visit his Oral History interview transcription here; [Walter McFall an Oral History](https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Walter_McFall#Mentoring_Female_Engineering_Students)