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{{Image|E.R. Gilliland.jpg|right|250px|Dr. Edwin Richard Gilliland (1909-1973), MIT Institute Professor}}


'''Edwin Richard Gilliland''' (July 10, 1909 − March 10, 1973) was considered by many as the most renowned and best all-around [[Chemical engineering|chemical engineer]] of his generation. For most of his forty year career, he was a professor at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) where he served as the head of the chemical engineering department, chairman of the faculty and on numerous committees.<ref name=Sherwood>Thomas K. Sherwood (1978), ''Edwin Richard Gilliland, A Biographical Memoir'', [[National Academy of Science]], National Academies Press</ref><ref name=Brian>P.L. Thibaut Brian (1979), ''Edwin Richard Gilliland '', Memorial Tributes: [[National Academy of Engineering]], Vol. 1, pages 97-102, National Academy Press. Available online at [http://books.google.com/books?id=kz4rAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=1946+%22Ionics+Inc.%22&source=bl&ots=UPhGR2mIuk&sig=1VJwZtmMu4w2Qf4HsbwivpsGLRw&hl=en&ei=IgMYTIupK5Kc8ATci-C_Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CB0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Gilliland%20&f=false Google Books]</ref>
Edwin Gilliland was born in [[El Reno]], [[Oklahoma]] in 1909. When he was a child, his family moved to [[Little Rock]], [[Arkansas]], where he lived until he entered he [[University of Illinois]] to study chemical engineering, After graduating in 1930 with a Bachelor of Science degree, he then went to [[Pennsylvania State College]] where he obtained a Master of Science degree a year later in 1931. In the fall of that year, he transferred to MIT where he
earned his Doctor of Science degree in 1933 under the direction of [[Thomas K. Sherwood]] for whom he then worked briefly as an assistant. His engineering  talents were soon recognized by [[Warren K. Lewis]] who urged him to remain at MIT rather than entering industry. Gilliland agreed and began working with Lewis on the mathematical analysis of [[Continuous distillation|fractionating distillation towers]]. Subsequently, he spent the rest of his professional career at MIT except for a leave of absence in [[Washington, D.C.]] during [[World War II]] serving the [[United States Government]].
He was appointed as an instructor at MIT in 1934, an assistant professor in 1939 and a full professor of chemical engineering in 1944. He was appointed as the head of that department in 1961 and served as such until 1969.
==Teaching==
Gilliland was an inspirational teacher and especially stimulating to his better students. He was a popular choice of post-graduate students for supervising their Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) theses. He supervised more than 100 such Sc.D thesis in chemical engineering as well as a large number of Master's theses.
He almost never missed a weekly two-hour session of oral reports from the post-graduate students who were engaged in thesis research. Many of his post-graduate students later became prominent in industry as well as teaching.
==Industrial consulting==
As an instructor at MIT,he formed a friendship with professor [[Warren K. Lewis]]. They became close associates and, in 1934, when Gilliland was just 25 years old, he joined Lewis as a consultant to the Standard Oil Development Company which was the technical subsidiary of the [[Standard Oil Company]] (later to become Esso and then Exxon). That consultancy continued until his death in 1973.<ref name=Sherwood/><ref name=Brian/>
Stimulated by their consulting work at Standard Oil, Lewis and Gilliland began experimenting with fluidized beds of solid [[Catalysis|catalyst]] particles which rapidly led to the development of the [[fluid catalytic cracking]] process used in [[Petroleum refining processes|petroleum refineries]] to produce a [[Gasoline#Octane rating|high-octane]] component of [[gasoline]]. The first commercial adaptation of that process began operation in 1942 and the process played a very important major role in the production of the high-octane aviation gasoline needed during [[World War II]].<ref name=Sherwood/><ref name=Brian/>
Gilliland also served for more than twenty-five years as a consultant to the [[Merk & Company|Merck pharmaceutical company]] (also known as [[Merck Sharp & Dohme]]) on the production of many [[pharmaceutical]] products, [[vitamin]]s, [[reverse osmosis]] and many other things.
Among his many other consultancies were twenty-five years with the Dewey and Almy Chemical Company (later absorbed by [[W.R. Grace & Company]], fifteen years with the Deering Milliken textile Company (now known as [[Milliken & Company]]) and other long-term work with [[Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company]], the [[General Electric Company]] and the [[Nestlé|Nestlé food company]].<ref name=Sherwood/><ref name=Brian/>
He also became involved in the executive-level administration of several high technology firms such as Ionics<ref>Acquired in 2005 by GE Water and Process Technologies and then, in 2006, acquired by [[Puronics Incorporated]]</ref> where he served as president from 1946 to 1964 and then as chairman of the board of directors until 1971. The association with Ionics fueled his interest in [[electrochemistry]], [[ion exchange]] and [[electrodialysis]], and his teaching and research programs in that field stimulated many of his students.<ref name=Sherwood/><ref name=Brian/>
==Governmental service during World War II==
Professor Gilliland went to Washington, D.C. in 1942 and served as the Assistant Rubber Director in charge of research and development for the [[War Production Board]] until 1944. He then became a member and a Deputy Chief of a division of the [[National Defense Research Committee]] in the [[Office of Scientific Research and Development]].<ref name=Sherwood/><ref name=Brian/>
In the following year, he became Deputy Chairman of the [[Joint Chiefs of Staffs]] Guided Missiles Committee and also a member of the Industrial Disarmament Committee.<ref name=Sherwood/><ref name=Brian/>
After the end of World War II, Gilliland continued to serve the government including being appointed to and serving four years on the [[President's Science Advisory Committee]] under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.<ref name=Sherwood/><ref name=Brian/>
==Awords and Honors==
Gilland's body of work was highly acclaimed in the chemical engineering profession and he received many awards and honors, including:<ref name=Sherwood/><ref name=Brian/>
*1944: The Baekeland Medal and Award for Achievement in Chemistry from the [[American Chemical Society]].
*1948: Awarded an honorary doctorate from [[Northeastern University]].
*1948: Elected as a member of the [[National Academy of Sciences]].
*1950: The Professional Progress Award from the [[American Institute of Chemical Engineers]].
*1954: The William H. Walker Award for outstanding publications from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
*1959: The Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry from the American Chemical Society.
*1965: The Warren K. Lewis Award in Chemical Engineering Education from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
*1965: Elected as a member of the [[National Academy of Engineering]].
*1970: The Founders Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
*1971: Elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
==References==
{{reflist}}

Revision as of 18:03, 16 June 2010

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