Tim O'Neal
Corporate Chair

Tim O’Neal joined Dow in 1997 as an Environmental Protection Engineer in Seadrift, Texas.  He has held multiple manufacturing leadership roles in Texas Operations and West Virginia Operations supporting Energy, Environmental Operations, EO/EG, Microbial Control, Performance Monomers, Pharma & Food Solutions, PO/PG, PSF&L and Supply Chain Operations.  Tim was the PSF&L Production Leader and Site Logistics Leader for West Virginia Operations prior to being named site director for West Virginia Operations.  

O’Neal serves and holds leadership positions on several civic and community boards.  In addition, he volunteers for Dow and Site related STEM activities, United Way, Habitat for Humanity.  He supports the philanthropic efforts of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Girl Scouts of the USA.

O’Neal holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from West Virginia University Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Marshall University. 

Kara Dravenstott
Mountain State Medical and Rheumatology
Medical Honoree

Kara Dravenstott is a nurse practitioner working with Dr. Triplett at Mountain State Medical and Rheumatology in Charleston, WV. She strives to give each of her patients highly personalized evaluation and treatment and is dedicated to getting her patients safely back to the activities they enjoy. Kara is a proud native to West Virginia and has been assessing and treating patients with rheumatologic disease locally since graduating in 2016. She received her undergraduate degree in nursing from WVU Tech in 2012 and graduate degree as an advanced practice nurse from Marshall University in 2016.

Gideon
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Youth Honoree

In December of 2016, at the age of 3, Gideon was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. The diagnosis came after months of trying to figure out what was causing so much pain and swelling in his knee. His journey began several months before that when he started complaining of pain in his left knee. We originally thought that he had possibly injured himself but after a few days, the pain was getting worse. He also developed a lingering fever. We visited our local pediatrician several times over those weeks. He was diagnosed with strep throat which they thought could be causing some joint pain. When his fever had not subsided after several days of antibiotics (treatment for strep) we were sent to the emergency room for further testing. Possible causes of the pain in his knee that was now keeping him from walking, were possible injury or infection in the joint. Multiple X-rays showed nothing to confirm either of those conditions. Gideon was admitted to the hospital for 4 days and left with a misdiagnosis of rheumatic fever. We (along with the pediatrician) decided to get a second opinion. However, before our paperwork was completed or any referrals finalized, his symptoms continued to worsen and we headed to the emergency room at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. After being seen by the emergency room staff, an appointment was made with the rheumatology department where we received a diagnosis of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. Since that time, Gideon has received steroid injections in his knees (both knees were found to have active arthritis), and have been further treated with weekly injections, daily medication and supplements, and some dietary changes that have helped keep his arthritis under control with small flare ups only happening occasionally.

—Michael and Rachel Ervin