Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 26
OCR for page 26
JOHN FRANK ELLIOTT
1920-1991
BY MORRIS COHEN
jOHN F. ELLIOTT, one of the world s foremost authorities in the
eld of metallurgy, died on April 15, 1991, at the age of seventy.
He was the American Iron and Steel Institute Distinguished
Professor of Metallurgy and director of the Mining and Mineral
Resources Research Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT). He was elected to the National Academy of
Engineering in 1975 as a teacher, engineer, and scientist, who
was responsible for major advances in metallurgical education,
research, and processing.
John was born on July 31, 1920, in St. Paul, Minnesota, and
received his early eduction in northern Minnesota. He was
awarded the S.B. in metallurgical engineering with high distinc-
tion at the University of Minnesota in 1942. After becoming a
lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he
enrolled as a graduate student at MIT and received the Sc.D. in
metallurgy in 1949. He then joined the Fundamental Research
Laboratory of the United States Steel Corporation as a physical
chemist. Following this experience in industrial research, John
joined the Inland Steel Company as a member of the research
staff and was later appointed assistant superintendent of quality
control of steelmaking. In 1955 he returned to MIT as associate
professor of metallurgy and rose to full professorship in 1960.
John's teaching and research at MIT established his intellec-
tual leadership in chemical-process metallurgy. He and his
27
OCR for page 26
28
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
students published well over two hundred papers, covering
ferrous process metallurgy, high-temperature chemistry of inor-
ganic materials, and hot corrosion of metals en c! refractories, as
well as the underlying chemical thermodynamics and kinetics.
One of his major publications was a comprehensive two-volume
compilation, Thermochemistry for Steelmaking. He was also in-
volved with technological developments in the metallurgical
processing industry and with the conservation of energy and raw
materials, including the related environmental implications.
In all these activities, ~ohn's achievements were acknowI-
edged by many awards, invited lectureships, and honorary mem-
berships. Among his more than a dozen prizes were the Robert
W. Hunt Award of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgi-
cal, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME), the John Simon
Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship at Imperial College in Lon-
don, The Albert Easton White Distinguished Teacher Award of
the American Society for Metals, the AIME Legion of Honor, and
the Tawara Gold Medal of the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan.
In addition to John's membership in the National Academy of
Engineering, his honorary and fellow memberships included
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the American
Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers;
the Metallurgical Society of AIME; the Iron and Steel Society of
AIME; the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan; the Japan Institute
of Metals; the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; the
SocieclacI Venezolana de Ingenieros de Minas y Metalurgicos;
and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Among the honorary lectures given by John were the Howe
Memorial Lecture of AIME, the Carter Memorial Lecture at the
University of Strathclycle in Scotland, the Yukawa Lecture of the
Iron and Steel Institute in Japan, the Extractive Metallurgy
Lecture of AIME, the Zay Jeffries Lecture of ASM, and the Sir
Julius Wernher Memorial Lecture of the Institution of Mining
and Metallurgy in Great Britain. He also presented invited
papers in Sweden, India, and Korea. In 1974 he served es visiting
professor at the Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, and in 1976
at the Simon Bolivar University in Caracas, Venezuela. He co-
chaired the First Bilateral USA-China Metallurgical Conference
OCR for page 26
lOHN FINK ELLIOTT
29
in Beijing in 1978, and coeditecI the classic proceeding on
Metallurgical Treatises in 1981.
Perhaps the tribute that meant most to John was the Elliott
Symposium on Chemical Process Metallurgy, organized by his
students and colleagues and held at MIT in June 1990. It was a
memorable occasion with featured papers on the future of
process metallurgy in Asia, Australia, and Europe, as well as in
the Americas. John participated actively throughout the sympo-
sium and gave the final presentation on "Whither Chemical
Metallurgy?" Another highlight of the event was the establish-
ment of an endowed fund by the Iron and Steel Society and the
Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society in support of a John F.
Elliott Lectureship in Chemical Process Metallurgy, "to honor
Professor Elliott for his many accomplishments, and for the
leaclership he provided over a career spanning more than four
clecades."
Despite several life-threatening illnesses throughout his ca-
reer, John demonstrated remarkable resolve to carry on with his
way of life after each health crisis. Each time, he managed to
resume his research en cl teaching, together with a vigorous
schedule of world travel for conferences, honors, and invited
lectures. He also remained] ever-clevoted to his family, students,
ant! profession, alongwith his hobbies of gardening, sailing, and
· . ~
music appreclatlon.
Tragically, however, in December of 1990, fateful symptoms of
a brain tumor were detected, and the end came for John in April
of 1991. He is survive cI by his wife, Frances PendIeton Elliott; two
children, William Stowe Elliott and Dorothy Elliott Sempolinski;
and four grandsons.
John Elliott liver! a life of purpose, fullness, and lasting
achievement. He has left his indelible mark on the metallurgical
rim .
protesslon.