11:23 a.m., Nov. 13, 2008----Two former University of Delaware faculty members, as well as the first recipient of a doctorate from UD, have been named to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' list of “50 Chemical Engineers of the Foundation Age.” The list was compiled in conjunction with AIChE's centennial celebration.

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Allan Colburn, Robert Pigford and James Westwater are among those who “founded the profession and established the discipline in the first half of the century.”

The three not only share this recognition from AIChE but also overlap in an important segment of the history of chemical engineering at UD.

Although the first degree in this field was awarded at UD in 1915, the Department of Chemical Engineering was not officially established until Colburn joined the faculty in 1938. Building on his doctoral experience from the University of Wisconsin and an effective collaboration he had established with Dr. Thomas Chilton of the DuPont Co., Colburn initiated an extensive research program at UD and by the late 1940s had hired enough faculty to start a significant undergraduate program.

In the late 1940s, Colburn became University provost and coordinator of scientific research and turned over the building and operation of the department to Pigford, whom he had recruited from DuPont. Pigford built on Colburn's pioneering work in heat transfer to establish a research effort that integrated experiments and mathematical models.

Westwater received his master's in chemical engineering in the fledgling department in 1943, and in 1948 he became the first student to earn a doctoral degree in this discipline from UD, completing his dissertation research under the direction of Pigford. Westwater then joined the faculty at the University of Illinois, where Pigford had earned his doctorate.

After spending his entire career at Illinois, Westwater was honored by the establishment of a professorship in his name there. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1974 and recognized as one of 30 distinguished chemical engineers at AIChE's 75th anniversary.

Both Colburn and Pigford are members of the National Academy of Engineering and have been honored with professorships in their name at UD. Colburn's name is also associated with the Allan P. Colburn Laboratory, which was completed in 1968 and now houses the Department of Chemical Engineering. In addition, he served as acting president of UD in 1950 and as provost from 1950-55. In 1979, Pigford was the first recipient of the Francis Alison Award, UD's highest faculty honor, and he served as a member of the UD Board of Trustees from 1982 until his death in 1988.

All three are mentioned in John Munroe's book The University of Delaware: A History. In Chapter 10, “The Postwar University: Reorganization and Reorientation,” Munroe writes, “Graduation exercises in June 1948 were made memorable by the awarding of the first earned doctorate in the university's history to James Westwater in chemical engineering.”

Munroe goes on to write about the increasing emphasis placed on research in the postwar era: “The importance of research was recognized by promotion of Allan Colburn in 1947 to a new position, assistant to the president and adviser on research, with a salary of $10,000, second only to President Carlson's salary, which was raised to $15,000 in the same year. His new role allowed Colburn's enthusiasm as a promoter to flow over the bounds of his old department, of which Robert Pigford, another very able recruit from the Du Pont Company, now became chairman.”

“These individuals are legendary in the field, and we're extremely proud that they are part of the history of the University of Delaware,” says Norman Wagner, Alvin B. and Julia O. Stiles Professor of Chemical Engineering and department chairperson. “In being named to this list, they join 47 others who have become 'household names in chemical engineering labs and industry.'”

The list of 50 includes leaders of key government programs, inventors of products such as Velox photographic paper, the developers of important industrial processes and pioneering educators.

Article by Diane Kukich