He became a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering at Louisiana Tech, whilst he had also worked as a waiter to pay his student expenses.

[4] Orr served in the United States Army during World War II from 1944 to 1946.

In 1966, he co-authored the article, "Vapor–Liquid Equilibrium for the Hexamethyldisiloxane–n-Propyl Alcohol System", with colleagues Woodrow W. Chew, Jr. and Charles A. Killgore, which was published in the Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data.

[6] He was subsequently appointed to the role of dean of the college and served as vice president, under F. Jay Taylor, before retiring in June 1980.

As a result, Sumlin did not contest the November election, and Orr was automatically declared representative-elect without a second round of voting.