Ernie joined American Glass Research in 2010 as a consultant in X-ray Fluorescence and Laboratory Safety. He joined Owens-Illinois in 1971 after working at E.I. DuPont and teaching at Vanderbilt University. In 1987 he and others founded Monarch Analytical Laboratories. West acquired Monarch in 2005. Agr purchased the laboratory in 2010. He is a member of the American Physical Society and a 50-year Emeritus member of the American Chemical Society. He received his Bachelor and Master degrees in Chemistry from the University of Oklahoma and the Ph.D. degree in Structural and Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Leeds, England.