John Prausnitz has for sixty-five years been a major intellectual figure in Berkeley chemical engineering, and indeed in chemical engineering worldwide. He is the originator and still the principal academic shepherd of the field of molecular thermodynamics, wherein fundamental properties of molecules and functional groups within molecules are used to predict macroscopic phase equilibria, which underlie the selection and design of large-scale separation processes such as distillation, extraction, and adsorption. He has expanded that work over the years to ever more complex systems,...
By C. R. Wilke, D. Hanson, K. S. Pitzer, and C. W. Tobias
Undated photo of Professor Theodore Vermeulen in his office in Gillman Hall. (Photo College of Chemistry, UC Berkeley)
Professor Theodore (Ted) Vermeulen (1916-1983), Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director of the Water Thermal & Chemical Technology Center, passed away on October 28, 1983 after a brief but valiant fight against leukemia. His...
Chemistry has been part of Berkeley since the University's charter was signed on March 23,1868. The chemist Robert Fisher was one of the first ten faculty to be hired.
Michael Charles Williams, undated photograph taken at UC Berkeley. (Photo courtesy College of Chemistry)
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Michael Charles Williams, a longtime member of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) faculty in the College of Chemistry on January 2,...
Mitchel Shen (1938-1979) Professor of Chemical Engineering
Following a brief illness, Mitchel Shen passed away on August 7, 1979, at the early age of forty and at the peak of his career. The students and faculty at Berkeley will miss an inspirational teacher and dedicated colleague, and the field of polymer science has lost an outstanding young researcher.
By K. N. Raymond, R. A. Andersen, R. G. Bergman, and A. M. Stacy
Earl Muetterties died of cancer on January 12, 1984, at the age of 56. Although he had been at Berkeley for only six years, his contributions to the Berkeley Chemistry Department were important and lasting. His lifetime contributions to the science of chemistry, first as a research worker and later as a teacher, have an...
