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FRANCIS LAWRENCE LAQUE
1 904-1 988
BY ALLYN VINE
FRANCIS LAQUE died at his home in Kingston, Ontario,
on January 19, 198S, at age eighty-three. He was a worId-
renowned authority on marine corrosion, an outstanding
author and lecturer, a prominent business executive, and a
consultant and adviser to government. The recipient of
many honors and awards, he served as president of the
Electrochemical Society from 1962 to 1963, of the Ameri-
can Society for Testing Materials in 1959, and of the Na-
tional Association of Corrosion Engineers in 1948. He was
always known as Frank LaQue.
While a U.S. citizen through most of his professional
career, he later returned to Canadian citizenship and was
elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1985 as
a foreign associate.
Frank LaQue was born in Gananoque, Ontario, and at-
tended schools there. Being a child when his father died,
Frank knew the extra work and responsibility required to
help his mother Agnes Mary (O'Neil) and his sister, Mary,
maintain the family. In school he liked both academics
and hockey and did well in both, thus demonstrating his
lifelong characteristics of high standards, dedicated application,
and personal enjoyment. His excellent school record helped
him into Queen's University in nearby Kingston, Ontario,
where he graduated in 1927 with a degree in chemical and
195
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196
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
metallurgical engineering. After graduating he worked for
several months at Deloro Smelting and Refining Company
of Canada as a foreman in charge of refining cobalt oxide.
Soon, however, he was contacted by the International Nickel
Company of Canada, Ltd., commonly known as INCO, and
for eleven years was assistant director of technical services.
In 1938 he was promoted to the Development and Research
Division. In 1940 he was placed in charge of the Corrosion
Engineering Section. In 1945 he became vice-president
and manager of the Development and Research Division.
In 1954 he became vice-president in charge of the Executive
Department, and from 1952 to his retirement in 1969, he
was a special assistant to the president. Hence, in his forty-
two-year career with INCO Frank became well acquainted
with many aspects of the research, manufacturing, and usage
of materials exposed to the elements.
Perhaps one of Frank's greatest achievements was to es-
tablish at Kure Beach and Wrightsville Beach, North Caro-
lina, a large and effective marine corrosion test site. This
major effort began around 1935 when Frank received per-
mission to immerse alloy test specimens in the canal supplying
ocean water to the bromine extraction plant of the Ethyl-
Dow Chemical Company. The test site was soon enlarged
to include an area along the beach for testing exposure to
marine atmospheres. Eventually, permanent buildings were
erected at nearby Wrightsville Beach. The new facility made
it possible to house thousands of test specimens, and evaluate
corrosion resistance performance of entire engineering in-
stallations such as those used for desalination, distillation,
and condensing. Results of the various tests were of inter-
est to many engineers and scientists. Accordingly, from
the very start Frank arranged an annual inspection and
review of the specimens, including presenting his interpretation
of the results and inviting others to express their opinions.
Employing his unusual wit and tact, he expertly guided
divisive opinions to reasonable accord. These popular ses-
sions, attended by several hundred participants, became
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FRAN C I S LAWRE N C E LAQU E
197
known as the Sea Horse Institute. They continue today,
under the direction of W. W. Kirk, at the same site that is
now officially entitled "The LaQue Center for Corrosion
Technology."
Thirty-seven years after receiving his B.Sc. in metallurgy
from Queen's University, it conferred on him the honorary
doctor of laws degree. He served on the visiting committees
of the Department of Metallurgy at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Case Institute of Technology, Division of
Electrochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, and National
Bureau of Standards. Frank was very active in professional
groups that were concerned with corrosion. His participa-
tion in such groups included being chairman of the Corrosion
Research Council from 1959 to 1960; president of the
Electrochemical Society in 1962 and of the National Association
of Corrosion Engineers in 1949; fellow of the American
Society for Metals; vice-chairman of the Welcting Research
Council; and a member of the Society of Automotive Engi-
neers, the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers,
and the American Chemical Society.
After retirement from INCO Frank found time to accept
invitations worldwide to present lectures on corrosion and
to conduct special courses on marine corrosion at Scripps
Institution of Oceanography at La JolIa, California, from
1970 to 1976 and at the University of Hawaii. He served on
the board of the International Oceanographic Foundation.
Over the years he inspired, advised, and informed many
students engaged in corrosion studies and he unstintingly
helped numerous engineers concerned with corrosion
problems.
In describing the state of our knowledge of corrosion,
Frank once stated, "the degree of experience one has with
corrosion often determines his opinion of it. Neophytes
may believe they understand the corrosion problems they
have observed and fee] capable of dealing with any similar
future recurrences. Experts may suggest rational explana-
tions for apparently anomalous behavior and thus view
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198
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
corrosion as a reasonably orderly phenomenon. But corro-
sion engineers, like economists, know enough to provide
plausible explanations of what has happened without being
equally adept at predicting future occurrences."
Frank also spent a very large part of his corporate and
retired career improving engineering standards. As with
corrosion, his interest was both national and international.
He belonged to many engineering standard organizations,
did more than normal homework, and became president
of several including the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) from 1969 to 1971 and the American Society for
Testing Materials (ASTM) from 1959 to 1960. In 1974 he
served in Washington as deputy assistant secretary of the
U.S. Department of Commerce concerned with industrial
standards.
Frank was the 1976 recipient of ANST's Astin-Polk Inter-
national Standards Medal that appropriately stated his
contributions.
No American has held offices of higher responsibility in interna-
tional and national standardization or discharged those responsibilities
with more statesmanlike diplomacy or greater vision and wisdom.
As president of the International Organization for Standardization,
the American National Standards Institute, and ASTM, vice-president
of the Pan American Standards Commission, and deputy assistant
secretary of commerce for product standards, he worked tirelessly to
ensure that standardization programs met the needs of all sectors of
society. The wide support he achieved for voluntary standardization
and the long range planning he helped institute will assist national
and international organizations to continue to make lasting contributions
to the worldwide exchange of technology and the well-being of people
everywhere.
Frank received other special professional recognitions
including the Frank Newman Speller Award in 1949 from
the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, the Howard
CoonIey Medal in 1962 from the American National Standards
Institute, the Edward G. Acheson Medal in 1968 from the
Electrochemical Society, the Leo B. Moore Medal from the
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F RAN C I S LAWRE N C E LAQU E
199
Standards Engineering Society, the Arch T. Colwell Cooperative
Engineering Medal from the Society of Automotive Engineers,
and honorary membership in the American National Stan-
dards Institute.
Frank's special publications included the Edgar Marburg
Lecture on Corrosion Testing, Proceedings ASTM, Vol. 5I, 1951;
coauthor with H.R. Copson, Monograph ~ 5S, Corrosion Re-
sistance of Metals and Alloys, Reinhold Publishing Co., New
York, 1963; Marine Corrosion, The Electrochemical Society
Monograph Series, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1975;
and the narrative and production of the motion picture
Corrosion in Action, International Nickel Co., 1955.
Many people will remember and benefit from what Frank
LaQue accomplished. However, those who were fortunate
enough to know him and work with him may be most apt
to remember him for his good humor and forceful, interesting,
and effective style; his ability to gracefully shift from dead
seriousness to puckish humor; and his intolerance for those
who tried to deflect a serious discussion and his helpful
tolerance for the serious learner.
Francis Lawrence LaQue influenced to our benefit several
professional areas covered by his diversified interests. As a
respected, concerned person, generous in all respects, he
upgraded life in the community in which all of us live.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
marine corrosion
