Members of the Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board paused during their Sept. 6 public meeting to remember one of their own.

“Dr. Doug Hindman was at the first meeting in February 1984 and has been involved in the chemical weapons destruction discussion since that day,” said Craig Williams, who served as co-chair of the commission with Hindman in 2023. “He has been an active voice for the community since Day One. He was a fine gentleman and engaged citizen. We all will miss him.”

Hindman died Sept. 3 after a lengthy illness.

“I am glad he was able to make it to the end of the last chemical weapons,” Williams said. “He passed away with that knowledge of the goal being accomplished. I think that was very comforting to him.”

The advisory commission is a nine-member group appointed by the governor. Its purpose is to exchange information among the community, the state and the Army regarding the chemical weapons demilitarization program. The commission and board meet quarterly to disseminate information about the chemical weapons destruction project.

A resident of Berea, Kentucky, Hindman was a psychologist and a psychology professor at Eastern Kentucky University from 1968 to 1997. He served as the commission’s chair since its inception in 1993.

“I have been a social activist all of my life,” Hindman said in a 2015 interview. “It has always been my way to give people a voice to try to make things better for the community.”