Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2006, 45, 5419-5420
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In Honor of Eduardo Glandt Eduardo D. Glandt is the Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Robert D. Bent Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He was among the first to apply the rigorous methods of modern statistical mechanics to the solution of practical chemical engineering problems. He has done so with an admirably consistent combination of good taste in his choice of problems, elegance in their solution, lucidity in extracting the underlying physical picture, and clarity in the exposition and dissemination of his work. If today the concepts and methods of statistical mechanics are an integral part of modern chemical engineering, this is in no small part due to Eduardo Glandt’s work. Eduardo received his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Buenos Aires, in his native Argentina, in 1968. He was a Lecturer (1969-1972) and an Adjunct Professor (1972-1973) in the Chemical Engineering Department at Buenos Aires University, and a Staff Chemical Engineering Researcher at the National Institute for Industrial Technology in Buenos Aires between 1967 and 1973. He came to the United States in 1973 and received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977. It soon became apparent to his Ph.D. advisors and indeed to the entire Chemical Engineering faculty at Penn that he was destined for a brilliant career. His inevitable appointment to the faculty followed swiftly upon completion of his doctoral thesis. Eduardo has spent his entire academic career at Penn, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 1981 and to Professor in 1985, and served as Department Chair from 1991 until 1994. He has held the Carl V. S. Patterson Chair (1990-1995), the
Russel Pearce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Chair (1995-1998), and the Robert D. Bent Chair (2003-present). Since 1999, he has served as Dean of Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. Eduardo’s early work examined the structure and thermodynamics of fluids in two dimensions using integral equation theory [Glandt and Fitts, J. Chem. Phys. 1977, 66, 4503]. This led naturally to what was to become one of the major themes in his research, namely, the study of fluids under confinement. This rich subject, with applications ranging from catalysis to membrane separations and natural gas storage [Matranga et al., Chem. Eng. Sci. 1992, 47, 1569 (119 citations)], has captured his interest and inspired him and his students to investigate the thermodynamics of adsorption [Glandt, AIChE J. 1981, 27, 51 (70 citations)], the structure and phase behavior of fluids in pores and in random media [Madden and Glandt, J. Stat. Phys. 1988, 51, 537 (160 citations)], and the theory of random sequential adsorption [Chiew et al., J. Chem. Phys. 1985, 83, 761 (69 citations)]. He has also done important work on percolation theory [Chiew and Glandt, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 1983, 16, 2599 (156 citations)], the effective transport properties of dispersions and composite materials [Chiew and Glandt, Chem. Eng. Sci. 1987, 42, 2677 (52 citations)], the thermodynamics of polydisperse fluids [Briano and Glandt, J. Chem. Phys. 1984, 80, 3336 (67 citations)], and the molecular simulation of phase equilibrium [Kofke and Glandt, Mol. Phys. 1988, 64, 1105 (102 citations)]. The common threads that run through his scholarly output are a masterful command of the analytical and computational techniques of modern statistical mechanics, the ability to extract deep physical insight from his calculations, and a
10.1021/ie068005d CCC: $33.50 © 2006 American Chemical Society Published on Web 07/26/2006
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practical engineer’s thorough understanding of the limits imposed on chemical processes by the principles of thermodynamics [Glandt and Myers, Ind. Eng. Chem. Proc. Des. DeV. 1976, 15, 100]. Eduardo Glandt’s scientific accomplishments have earned him important awards, including the American Chemical Society’s Victor K. LaMer Award (1979), Yale’s Dodge Lectureship (1985), the University of Puerto Rico’s Merck Lecture (1986), the McCabe Lecture at North Carolina State University (1989), the Van Ness Award Lectures at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1993), Rutgers University’s Merck Distinguished Lecture (1994), Cornell’s Debye Lectures (1995), the Distinguished Faculty Lecture from the University of Texas at Austin (1995), the Lacey Lectures at the California Institute of Technology (1997), the Wilhelm Lectureship at Princeton (1998), the BlueGreen Lecture at Michigan State University (2003), and the Leland Lecture at Rice University (2004). In 1996, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. In the course of his distinguished academic career, Eduardo has supervised 18 Ph.D. theses and 5 Master’s theses. His former students share a veritable devotion to him, which is the natural result of his generosity, warmth, wisdom, and loyalty as a mentor. An inspired and inspiring teacher, he received the S. Reid Warren Award for Distinguished Teaching from Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science (1977) and Penn’s Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching (1980). A visionary administrator, Eduardo’s leadership continues to transform Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. Now in his second term as Dean of Engineering, his goal is to
make Penn a center for research in nanotechnology. The accomplishments of his first term include the new Levine Hall for Computer Science and the almost-completed Skirkanich Hall for Bioengineering. Because of his vision and deep involvement with their design and construction, both buildings not only address the insatiable need for additional laboratory space but are also major architectural achievements as well. No account of Eduardo Glandt’s career and accomplishments would be complete without mentioning his incomparable warmth, wit, and sense of humor. He greatly enjoys the theater, especially the London stage, and is an astute collector of art. An avid reader, he is himself a prolific and inspirational writer and speaker who has the enviable ability to bring clarity and insight to subjects ranging from fluid adsorption in nanopores to architectural design. His stunning home (a veritable local museum of modern art) is not only a reflection of his many artistic and architectural passions but is also the frequent site of legendary parties which often feature student singing groups, local Philadelphia talent, or even tango dancers. Above all, Eduardo Glandt is a thoughtful, kind, loyal, and generous man who has earned the utmost respect and admiration of his colleagues and friends in the academic community. He has a unique gift for interaction with people, which under different circumstances might have led to a successful career as a diplomat or as the CEO of a major corporation. How lucky we are that he chose engineering as his profession. This special issue of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research honors Eduardo D. Glandt, distinguished scholar, gifted teacher, warm and generous mentor, and visionary administrator, on the happy occasion of his 60th birthday.
Pablo G. Debenedetti and T. Kyle Vanderlick Department of Chemical Engineering Princeton UniVersity, Princeton, NJ 08544
Alan J. Myers and John A. Quinn Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering UniVersity of PennsylVania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 IE068005D
