Ind. Eng. Chem. Prod. Res. Dev., Vol. 18. No. 1. 1979
HOWARD L. GERHART
A Leader of Product Research It is our sad duty to notify our readers that Dr. Howard L. Gerhart died after a short illness on January 27, 1979. Dr. Gerhart was horn in Boyertown, Pa. He graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1931 and then went on t o graduate study a t Northwestern University where he received his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry in 1935. After a short stint a t Standard Oil Company he moved to PPG Industries in 1936. There he became the driving force in that company’s major move into coatings and plastics markets. He was named Research Director in 1947 and Vice President of Research and Development for the Coatings and Resins Division in 1968. After his retirement from PPG in 1974, Dr. Gerhart became Adjunct Professor of Chemical Engineering a t Carnegie Mellon University where he also founded and served as Director of the Coatings Research Center. Along with his many personal technical accomplishments, Dr. Gerhart as research director a t P P G collected a group of capable creative scientists and led the transition of paints and plastics technology from the status of an art in the 1930s t o the science of the 1970s. His technical accomplishment was recognized by the Mattiello Award which he received from the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology in 1976. Although fame and recognition are often fleeting, Howard Gerhart should fare well in that regard. He left his mark indelibly on the coatings industry and everyone fortunate enough to have come in contact with him. His zest for creative insights, ‘‘signals of science” to him, was a driving force toward meaningful solutions t o real problems. His greatest joy was in taking an unrecognized or unappreciated signal and applying it to practical product applications. In recent years Dr. Gerhart became deeply involved in scientific and technical advisory functions both in the United States and abroad. Since 1968, Howard Gerhart has served as editor of this journal. He was an esteemed friend and collaborator whose passing leaves an irreparable void among us. We join with his innumerable friends in the community of product researchers in extending our deepest sympathy to his family. J. A. SEINER K. I. BIGGS
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