By
Michael Higgins
It was with a little
nervousness and a lot of curiosity that I recently called
Dr. Darryl Banks (’68) at his home in Potomac, Maryland.
Given his outstanding education and wide-ranging
accomplishments since leaving Hopkinsville High School
forty years ago, the nervousness is understandable. The
curiosity part was just me wondering if a man of such
learning and experience could actually carry on a
conversation with a regular guy like me. I shouldn’t have
worried.
Dr. Banks is one of the nicest
people I’ve run into since starting this website, and
certainly one of the sharpest. He gave me more than a
half-hour out of his very busy life to chat about his days
at Hoptown High and his views on several subjects. He
ranged smoothly between old times and modern technology with
the ease of a practiced speaker and teacher.
Dr. Banks was Valedictorian of
the H.H.S. class of 1968 and went on to attend Coe College
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After graduating with a degree in
chemistry in 1972, he became one of only two students from
Christian County ever to win a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford
University in England (the other was C.C.H.S. grad and
former Kentucky State University president Raymond Burse).
With a degree in Physical Biochemistry under his belt, he
returned to the United States and what would be a long
career in environmental studies and energy technologies.
For a more complete look at his career path to the present,
click here.
http://consumerinternetbarometer.org/pdf_bios/darrylBanks.pdf
As so often happens with this
site, a few minutes into our talk revealed an interesting
connection between Dr. Banks and students from my own era at
H.H.S. His mother was the late Mrs. Helen Banks, a
well-known and much-respected guidance counselor at the
school for many years. He gives her much of the credit for
his achievements in life, as she instilled in him “a strong
sense of self-confidence” which sustained him through the
tough years of his formal education.
I wished to draw him out a
little on that subject, it having occurred to me that a
young black man from Hopkinsville rising to the top in the
Sixties had to have faced many challenges. While
acknowledging that some events of his senior year were
“reflective of where we were at the time”, Banks recalls
that his experiences at Hoptown were “mostly positive.”
When I asked him his thoughts
on why he was chosen to be a Rhodes Scholar over so many
candidates, he said, “Beside the academics, I like to think
it was something to do with my application.” He went on to
explain, “I wrote that I hoped to use my talents to return
some good to society in some way. I wanted to help bring
hopefully positive things to our country using whatever
talents I had been given.” He has been given a lot. And
America has benefited from his abilities for three decades.
At present, Dr. Banks is employed as a
chemical engineer for Noblis (http://www.noblis.org/index.htm),
a non-profit organization that uses the best minds in
science and technology to solve complex problems for a
variety of clients. He is currently involved in a very
in-depth study (see
http://www.eenews.net/tv/video_guide/778 ) on the use of
bio-fuels and alternate energy sources. He hopes that the
results will help shape future government policy and give
related industries vital information about how these systems
can be developed. At a time when gasoline
prices are roughly equal to surgical bills, we can all
applaud his efforts.
After such a successful career, it is
especially good to hear that Dr. Banks has lost none of his
enthusiasm for helping his country and its people. He still
believes that “America has the greatest potential of any
country in the world.” He ventured to say that he’d like to
see a program started that would bring alumni back to
Hopkinsville to speak to present-day students and expressed
that he would be willing to participate. I think we all
need to make that happen.
He has certainly done his part to
contribute to our nation’s future – in his own family. His
three children are all Stanford graduates and have sought
post-graduate degrees. His eldest son, Adam, just graduated
from Yale Law School and won a clerkship with the famously
controversial 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San
Francisco. His second son, David, has his master’s degree
in engineering and is the hopeful captain of the rowing team
at the U.S. Olympic trials. Daughter Lauren will begin her
pursuit of a medical degree this fall, possibly at Johns
Hopkins University.
Darryl Banks is a credit to his beloved
mother, his proud alma mater, and his country. It is plain
to see that this fair city can produce men and women of the
highest caliber. If America can learn to set aside
differences and divisive thinking, we can all benefit from
what the best among us have to offer.
It’s good to know that one of those is
a Hoptown Tiger.
Dr.
R Darryl Banks, Noblis Fellow, resides with his wife in
Potomac, Maryland.
|
