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Memorial Tributes: Volume 1 (1979)

Chapter: Mott Souders, Jr.

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Suggested Citation:"Mott Souders, Jr.." National Academy of Engineering. 1979. Memorial Tributes: Volume 1. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/578.
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Page 271
Suggested Citation:"Mott Souders, Jr.." National Academy of Engineering. 1979. Memorial Tributes: Volume 1. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/578.
×
Page 272
Suggested Citation:"Mott Souders, Jr.." National Academy of Engineering. 1979. Memorial Tributes: Volume 1. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/578.
×
Page 273
Suggested Citation:"Mott Souders, Jr.." National Academy of Engineering. 1979. Memorial Tributes: Volume 1. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/578.
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Page 274

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MOTT SOUDERS, JR. 1904-1974 BY MAX S. PETERS MOTT SOUDERS retired from Shell Development Company, died on December 11, 1974, one day after his seventieth birthday. Following his retirement from Shell Development Company in 1963, Dr. Souders had acted as a consultant. At the time of his retirement, he was Director of Oil Development for Shell De- velopment Company. Born on December 10, 1904, in Red Lodge, Montana, Dr. Souders received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical en- gineering from Montana State College in 1926 and a Master of Science degree in 1927 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1931, each from the University of Michigan. He was a leader in de- veloping new industrial process ideas, particularly chemical processes involving mass transfer and extractive distillation. Dr. Souders' career with Shell Development Company started in 1937, when he was named Assistant Manager of the Chemical Engineering Section. He became Manager of the section in 1946. In 1950 he was named Associate Director of Oil Development and became Director in 1957. In 1961 he was appointed a Member of the Advisory Council to the Vice-President and General Manager of Shell Development Company. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering in 1970. Dr. Souders had the prime technical responsibility for the war- time programs to develop processes for producing toluene, butadiene, and penicillin in connection with which he held a 271

number of patents. In all, he held twenty-two patents in various phases of chemical engineering. He wrote more than seventy technical papers, and he was the editor of numerous textbooks and handbooks, most recently The Enganeer's Companion, a compilation of useful information for the practicing engineer. He was recog- nized as a leader in anticipating the process engineer's need for basic data for his predictions. While at Shell, Dr. Souders made major contributions to methods of fractionation requirements, and he also contributed to the technical vocabulary such expressions as "K-value," "stripping factor," and "extractive distillation." He pioneered in relating phys- ical and thermodynamic properties of components to molecular structure, and he was largely responsible for the establishment of Shell Development Company's strong Chemical Engineering De- partment. Among the awards received by Mott Souders are the Professional Progress and Founders Awards from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the A~ehE Institute Lectureship in 1963. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Mon- tana State College in 1954 and a citation from the University of Michigan at the Centennial of Engineering in 1953. During the period 1935-37, he was a Sterling Fellow at Yale University. Despite his busy technical life, Mott Souders had time to serve his profession with distinction. He always took an interest in beginning engineers and worked closely with education activities through the A~ehE. He was active on numerous committees in the A~ehE and served as a member of its Council from 1964 to 1966. Mott Souders' engineering ability seemed to be the product of innate capacity enhanced by intense study and broad experience. He had an uncanny ability to take an engineering problem, whether in petroleum or in penicillin, determine the likely direc- tion in which the solution would lie, and quickly fashion a number of approaches to be carried out by those working with him to solve the problem. He was a real inspiration to other engineers to think deeply and constructively. His significant contributions in the chemical engineering field will be of importance for many years to come. 272

In addition to his technical accomplishments, Mott Souders was a warm, sensitive human being and a true friend. He leaves behind him a rich heritage of technical accomplishments, leadership, and personal determination. 273

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