National Academies Press: OpenBook

Memorial Tributes: Volume 17 (2013)

Chapter: ADEL F. SAROFIM

« Previous: ROBERT A. PRITZKER
Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×

image

Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×

ADEL F. SAROFIM

1934–2011

Elected in 2003

“For advancing our understanding of the mechanisms and modeling of processes that control radiation in and pollutant emissions from combustors.”

BY GERALD B. STRINGFELLOW

ADEL FARES SAROFIM, a professor emeritus in the Departments of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Utah, passed away on December 4, 2011, in Norfolk, Virginia. He was born on October 21, 1934, in Cairo to a family that was prominent in Egyptian, and especially Coptic, affairs. His maternal grandfather, Morcos Pasha Simaika, was the founder of the Coptic Museum in Cairo, and his father, Fares Sarofim, was the recipient of an OBE from the British Crown. Upon graduation from the English School in Heliopolis at age 13, three years too young to be eligible to enter Magdalene College at Oxford University, Adel attended the Tunbridge School in England. He received a BA in chemistry from Oxford in 1955 and then studied chemical engineering at MIT, where he received his MS in chemical engineering practice in 1957 and ScD in 1962. His doctoral thesis, conducted under the supervision of Professor Hoyt C. Hottel, was on the subject of radiative heat transfer in furnaces. Upon completion of his thesis, Dr. Sarofim continued to work closely with Professor Hottel. The success of this collaboration through the years that followed is evidenced by more than 1,200 citations to their 1967 book on radiative transfer.

Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×

Dr. Sarofim was appointed an instructor in the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering in 1958 and thereby discovered a talent for teaching and a love for the profession. He joined the regular faculty as an assistant professor in 1961 and rose to the rank of professor in 1972. From 1989 until 1996 he was the Lammot du Pont Professor of Chemical Engineering. He retired in 1996 to join the University of Utah as Presidential Professor, a ranking “reserved for selected individuals whose achievements exemplify the highest goals of scholarship as demonstrated by recognition accorded to them from peers with national and international stature, and whose record includes evidence of a high dedication to teaching.”

In 1990, Dr. Sarofim cofounded Reaction Engineering International, based in Salt Lake City. He played an important role in REI business for over 20 years, serving on the board of directors for 10 years and as a general consultant for the company and its customers in areas related to industrial combustion processes and R&D for next-generation combustion systems.

Focusing on energy efficiency and pollution reduction, Dr. Sarofim spent more than 50 years working on combustion science, which led to advances in the reduction of pollutants released from fossil fuel combustion. His research covered radiative heat transfer, furnace design, circulation patterns in glass melts, the freeze process for desalination, nitric oxide formation in combustion systems, combustion-generated aerosols, soot and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation, and the characterization of carbon structure and reactivity.

A particular focus of Dr. Sarofim’s work was energy and the environment and the interdisciplinary research needed to address these issues. At MIT he served on steering committees for three interdisciplinary research centers: the Hazardous Substances Group, the Energy Laboratory, and the Center for Environmental Health Sciences. He was also cofounder and director of MIT’s EPA Center for Airborne Organics (1992–2002).

Dr. Sarofim was the recipient of numerous US and international awards, including the Kuwait Prize for Petro-

Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×

chemical Engineering (1983); the Sir Alfred Egerton Gold Medal from the Combustion Institute (1984); the Walter Ahlstrom Environmental Prize of the Finnish Academies of Technology (1993); Senior Thermal Engineering and the Townend-BCURA Awards of the Institute of Energy (1994); the University of Pittsburgh Award for Innovation in Coal Conversion (1995); the Department of Energy Homer H. Lowry Award in Fossil Energy (1996); the ASME Fuels and Combustion Technology Division Percy Nicholls Award (1996); the Lawrence K. Cecil Award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Environmental Division (1998); the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Energy Systems Award (2000); and the ASME George Westinghouse Gold Medal (2004).

His many colleagues all over the world included those who visited his research groups at MIT and the University of Utah and those he visited abroad over the course of his career. He was a “collaboration builder,” and through him his colleagues at the University of Utah developed, either directly or indirectly, friendships and collaborations with researchers throughout the world, including Italy, Hungary, Colombia, China, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Dr. Sarofim’s mentorship, wit, wisdom, and friendship were truly his most important contributions to those who knew him.

According to colleagues, Dr. Sarofim always said the best indication of scholarship was the combination of students and publications. He supervised and mentored more than 80 PhD students, many of whom now hold prestigious academic, industrial, and governmental positions, and his more than 350 peer-reviewed papers and documents have had almost 5,000 citations. His 1996 US DOE Homer H. Lowry Award citation reflects well the sentiments of his colleagues, students, and friends: “Adel Sarofim is a compassionate human being who inspires students and colleagues, and who contributes significantly across the full spectrum from fundamental science through real-world design concepts.”

In addition to his professional and academic achievements, Adel’s personal qualities included a variety of admirable attributes: a strong sense of familial devotion and compassion

Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×

that justified a late-life relocation from Salt Lake City to Virginia where three of his closest kin lived; an enduring interest in genealogy that enabled him to fulfill a long-time promise of supporting and advising his cousin Dr. Samir Simaika in the editing and publication of their grandfather’s memoirs; a dry and irrepressible sense of humor that could unexpectedly surface in the wake of medical crises (when recuperating from the removal of an intestinal polyp he received a copy of The Gas We Pass, which he enjoyed so much that he sent it to his sister liberally annotated with personal underlinings and comments in the margins); and never ever missing an opportunity to combine elements of work, travel, and adventure (such as donning an aviator’s pressurized flight suit and helmet for a transfer by Navy fighter jet both to and from the flight deck of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt [CVN-71] at sea off the Virginia Capes to enable his participation in a conference of the National Research Council on shipboard pollution control).

Perhaps as a result of his many travels, Adel took pleasure in sampling diverse cuisines; he particularly grew to love pasta during a 6-month sabbatical at the University of Naples. During breaks from research he would play squash with students or go hiking with his family. And everywhere he went he always had a book with him, whether a student’s thesis to correct or a biography of Lyndon Johnson to enjoy. He was gentle, generous, and modest. Even his closest colleagues were not aware of the entire spectrum of his contributions. These are but a few of his qualities and attributes; the complete list is seemingly endless.

In addition to his wife Mary Ellen, he is survived by his sisters Lola Beck and Nabila Harris, his brother Nabil Sarofim, and Marcus C. Sarofim, his son to his former wife Leticia Sarofim. They, his colleagues, and his students are in his debt.

Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×
Page 262
Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×
Page 263
Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×
Page 264
Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×
Page 265
Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×
Page 266
Suggested Citation:"ADEL F. SAROFIM." National Academy of Engineering. 2013. Memorial Tributes: Volume 17. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18477.
×
Page 267
Next: KLAUS SCHOENERT »
Memorial Tributes: Volume 17 Get This Book
×
Buy Hardback | $66.00 Buy Ebook | $54.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

This is the 17th Volume in the series Memorial Tributes compiled by the National Academy of Engineering as a personal remembrance of the lives and outstanding achievements of its members and foreign associates. These volumes are intended to stand as an enduring record of the many contributions of engineers and engineering to the benefit of humankind. In most cases, the authors of the tributes are contemporaries or colleagues who had personal knowledge of the interests and the engineering accomplishments of the deceased. Through its members and foreign associates, the Academy carries out the responsibilities for which it was established in 1964.

Under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering was formed as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. Members are elected on the basis of significant contributions to engineering theory and practice and to the literature of engineering or on the basis of demonstrated unusual accomplishments in the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology. The National Academies share a responsibility to advise the federal government on matters of science and technology. The expertise and credibility that the National Academy of Engineering brings to that task stem directly from the abilities, interests, and achievements of our members and foreign associates, our colleagues and friends, whose special gifts we remember in this book.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!