[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 23354-23355]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO DR. LEON Y. SADLER, III

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I rise today to express my 
congratulations to Dr. Leon Y. Sadler, III, originally of Camden, AL, 
now of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for his receipt of the Outstanding 
Commitment to Teaching Award given by the University of Alabama.
  Dr. Sadler comes from a well respected Wilcox County family who for 
generations have provided the area with leadership. His grandfather, 
Mr. ``Duck'' Sadler was a superb businessman, and farmer. Indeed, my 
father purchased his International Harvester dealership from him in the 
late 1950s. Dr. Sadler's father was a brilliant lawyer who did superb 
legal work for over a half century, operating from his modest office in 
Camden. Dr. Sadler's brother, Tom, graduated one year ahead of me at 
Wilcox County High School, obtained his engineering degree from 
Massachusetts of Technology and, likewise, excelled in engineering.
  Leon earned a B.S. in Engineering from Georgia Institute of 
Technology, and his master's degree and Ph.D. at the University of 
Alabama. He joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at the 
University of Alabama in 1978 after working for Olin Chemical 
Corporation and the United States Bureau of Mines. His publications are 
numerous and his research has led to his being rewarded three patents. 
He is also the recipient of numerous awards including Reichold-Shumaker 
Professorship of Chemical Engineering; Department of Engineering 140th 
Anniversary Outstanding Fellow Award; Rau Beta Pi Outstanding College 
of Engineering Faculty Award and Alabama Society of Professional 
Engineers State of Alabama Engineering Educator of the Year for 2001, 
to name a few. His excellence as a teacher of chemical engineering is 
best enunciated by one of his students who said about Leon:

       Not only does he use his great technical skills to educate 
     his students to be better suited for industry, but he also 
     employs his personal skills to illustrate to students how to 
     be better suited for the ``real world.'' He never fails to 
     provide students with the means to learn, as well as the 
     tools to succeed in a competitive field.

  I knew Leon as a student in the public schools of Wilcox County. He 
graduated several years ahead of me. While a terrific student, Leon was 
also a good basketball player. On one occasion, he undertook to coach a 
group of us who attended the Methodist Youth Fellowship in a basketball 
league. In fact, we had an ecumenical Methodist Youth

[[Page 23355]]

Fellowship, with Presbyterians and other church members attending. We 
thought he was a wonderful coach and that we would be a successful 
team. Unfortunately, he had chosen by far the shortest team in the 
league and though we learned much about the game, a winning season we 
did not have.
  Leon married his high school classmate, Dana McNeil, a wonderful and 
sparkling person who maintained a successful career in real estate. She 
has been his loving partner throughout their marriage of many years. 
They have two wonderful sons, Leon IV and Cobb.
  In recent years, I had the chance to reestablish a close relationship 
with Leon and Dana. Spending time with them has been a most pleasant 
experience. He and Dana have had me stay with them in their fine home 
in Tuscaloosa and treated me with genuine hospitality. I have cherished 
those visits and our talks about friends and family and our roots. In 
this highly mobile world, it is important that we stay close to our 
friends and to our heritage.
  Everyone has such a great love and affection for Leon. Though 
brilliant and dedicated, he never lost his humility and humanity. 
People love him and love being with him. His friends are many and very, 
very loyal--just as he is to them.
  Leon is now suffering an erosion of his physical abilities as the 
result of the progression of Lou Gehrig's disease. I visited him, Dana 
and Jim Wilburn recently and enjoyed it greatly. Among other things, we 
talked of my re-election effort which was just a few weeks off. Leon, 
now unable to speak, with a smile on his face, wrote on his small 
erasable board the words, ``You're going to win.'' That was an 
encouraging comment and, as it turned out, he was correct.
  Leon Y. Sadler, III has achieved excellence in a rigorous and 
demanding specialty, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering. He 
has been a blessing to his fellow man. He has remembered his roots and 
friends from Wilcox County. He loves his wife and family and is proud 
of all their accomplishments. To an unusual degree, he loves America, 
understands her greatness, keeps up with current affairs, and does all 
he can to keep her on the right path.
  Teachers are important people. In addition to their professional 
excellence, teachers help young people learn how to live--in the words 
of his student, ``. . . how to be better suited for the `real world'''. 
Indeed. I extend my congratulations to Dr. Sadler for this important 
teaching award, presented by one of the great universities in the 
world, the University of Alabama. The presentation of the award on 
September 18, 2002, brought credit on both Dr. Sadler and the 
University.

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