College of Chemistry Newsjournal, Spring 2004

Two of the chemical engineering department’s respected scholars are looking ahead to their busy retirement years. Jud King officially became Professor Emeritus in July 2003, and was on recall to the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) through March 2004. Effective mid-April, he is now director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education. John Prausnitz will become a Professor Emeritus in July 2004. Both men expect to be active on the campus for some years to come.

At UCOP King served as Provost and Senior Vice President for eight years. He oversaw the academic planning and research and academic policies for the UC system. Additionally, he led the initial academic planning for the new Merced campus and the development of UC’s greatly expanded programs of outreach to K-12 schools, teachers and pre-college students. He has been an active leader of the college as well, serving as both Department Chair and Dean.

King is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and he has received a number of major awards from professional societies for his research on separation processes and spray drying. He has also written a well-used text in that field, Separation Processes. King was profiled in the Fall 2002 issue of the NewsJournal.

Prausnitz is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is considered the “father of molecular thermodynamics in chemical engineering” and has published over 600 articles. He has received numerous honorary doctorates for his work

The purpose of Prausnitz’s research is to obtain, interpret and correlate thermodynamic properties of a variety of mixtures as required for process and product design in the chemical and related industries, including biotechnology. Prausnitz was profiled in the Fall 2001 issue of the NewsJournal.

Related sites:

Jud King faculty page

John Prausnitz website

UC Berkeley