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ROBERT CLARK REID
1924–2006
Elected in 1980
“For contributions to methods of computing physical properties and
the understanding of boiling heat transfer between immiscible liquids.
BY P. L. THIBAUT BRIAN
R OBERT CLARK REID, who died on May 18, 2006, in
Winchester, Massachusetts, was Professor Emeritus of Chemical
Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
where he spent his entire professional career. Bob was renowned
in the chemical engineering community for his contributions
to methods of teaching thermodynamics, estimating physical
properties, and a variety of complex physical-chemical
phenomena, including the phase behavior of supercritical fluids
and boiling heat transfer at the interface between two immiscible
liquids. An inspirational teacher and a warm and generous
mentor, Bob was beloved by generations of students who
studied under him during his many years at MIT.
Bob Reid was born in Denver, Colorado, on June 11, 1924.
He was active in scouting, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.
After graduating from East High School in Denver in 1942, he
enrolled in the Colorado School of Mines, but he left in December
1942 to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps. In May 1943, he was
diagnosed with rheumatic fever, and the Air Corps gave him
a medical discharge. He then entered the U.S. Merchant Marine
Academy at Kings Point, Long Island, New York, and graduated
in 1945. He served in the Merchant Service and was licensed as
third assistant engineering officer in January 1946. At that time,
he was also commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve,
in which he served until his discharge in February 1952.
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212 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
Bob returned to the Colorado School of Mines in 1946 and
majored in petroleum engineering. In 1948 he transferred to
Purdue University to study chemical engineering and was
awarded a B.S. in 1949 and an M.S. in 1950. The Merchant
Marine Academy also awarded him a B.S. in 1950. In 1951, he
enrolled as a graduate student at MIT, where he received a
Doctor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1954.
When he joined the MIT faculty as assistant professor of
chemical engineering, he was appointed director of the Oak
Ridge Engineering Practice School at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In
1956, he returned to the main MIT campus in Cambridge and
was named overall director of the School of Chemical
Engineering Practice, a post he held until 1963. Under his
leadership, the Practice School was rejuvenated, as several of
the old industrial stations were closed down and more modern
ones were added. Bob was promoted to associate professor in
1958 and full professor in 1965. He was named Chevron
Professor in 1981 and professor emeritus in 1985.
Professor Reid’s professional interests included a variety of
areas in chemical engineering. In 1958, he co-authored the
legendary reference book Properties of Gases and Liquids with
Tom Sherwood (McGraw-Hill Book Company). Over the next
40 years, three more editions were published with revised texts,
and John Prausnitz, Bruce Poling, and John O’Connell were
added as co-authors. In 1974, Bob and Michael Modell co-
authored Thermodynamics and Its Applications; for 23 years, this
was the textbook for the basic course taken by all MIT graduate
students in chemical engineering. The 1997 revision by Jeff
Tester is still the textbook for that course. Bob authored two
more books, Modeling Crystal Growth Rate from Solution (Prentice
Hall, Engelwood 1973), with Makoto Ohara, and Creativity and
Challenges in Chemical Engineering (Board of Regents of the
University of Wisconsin System, 1982).
Professor Reid supervised the research of 35 doctoral
students and published about 150 papers describing important
contributions to a variety of new fields, including boiling heat
transfer at the interface between immiscible liquids, heat
transfer with frost formation on cold surfaces, heat transfer to
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213
ROBERT CLARK REID
chemically reacting gases, kinetics of oxidation reactions, crystal
growth, estimation of physical properties, extraction with
supercritical fluids, liquid natural gas and liquefied petroleum
gas safety, and many others.
Professor Reid was a consultant for Arthur D. Little Inc.,
Nestlé S.A., Cabot Corporation, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.,
and Technology and Management Systems, Inc. Many of his
research interests were based on his consulting experiences,
and he brought this industry perspective into his research
laboratory and his classroom. As a teacher, he was interested
in each of his students and devoted to their development, both
professionally and personally.
Bob Reid gave generously of his time and talent to his
profession. He served on advisory committees at Princeton
University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the National
Science Foundation, National Bureau of Standards, and National
Academy of Sciences. He was a member of the Editorial Board
of the Journal of Chemical Engineering Data and Industrial and
Engineering Chemistry Fundamentals. He was a visiting professor
at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1978 and the
University of Wisconsin in 1980–1981. He served as a director
of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), was
a member of the Publications Committee, and was vice chairman
of the Awards Committee of AIChE. As editor of AIChE Journal
from 1970 to 1976, he reinforced its reputation as the leading
scientific publication on chemical engineering.
Many honors were bestowed upon Professor Reid during
his illustrious career. He was a Research Fellow in physics at
Harvard in 1964–1965. He received the Distinguished Alumnus
Award from Purdue University in 1972. He was a distinguished
lecturer at du Pont, Newark College of Engineering, University
of Delaware; University of Texas; University of Wisconsin; and
Oklahoma State University. In 1977, he held the Chemical
Engineering Lectureship of the American Society for Engineering
Education. AIChE honored him with the Institute Lectureship
in 1967, the Warren K. Lewis Award for Chemical Engineering
Education in 1976, and the Founders Award in 1986. He was
elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1980.
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214 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
In 1950, Bob Reid married Anna Marie Murphy, known to
her family and friends as Nancy. The couple settled in Lexington,
Massachusetts, where Nancy still lives. They had two children,
a son, Donald M. Reid, and a daughter, A. Christine Reid.
Donald and his wife Holly live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina,
where Donald is a professor at the University of North Carolina.
Christine and her husband, Donald C. Weber, live in Arlington,
Virginia, where Christine works in the science office of the
Arlington county school system. Bob and Nancy Reid were also
blessed with four grandchildren, Otis R. Reid, Hadley W. Reid,
Sarah R. Weber, and Rebecca N. Weber.
Bob enjoyed hiking, woodworking, and drawing, first still
lifes and later portraits. He also liked to bake bread and cakes.
In his later years, he became interested in botany and took on
the task of identifying unnamed trees in Mount Auburn
Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and on the MIT campus.
He was a also a Lexington Conservation Land Steward and a
member of the Chemical Advisory Team for the Lexington Fire
Department.
Bob Reid will be long remembered and sorely missed by his
many friends and colleagues and by scores of students who
benefited from his wisdom and guidance.
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