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Cite This: Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2018, 57, 15961−15962
Introduction to the Richard Noble Festschrift
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2018.57:15961-15962. Downloaded from pubs.acs.org by 95.181.176.134 on 12/04/18. For personal use only.
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1972. He decided to pursue Ph.D. research with Prof. Alan Jackman, and this started his interest in running, since he would run with Alan at noontime. This was a way to both get some exercise and talk with his advisor. Also, Rich started biking in Davis (which was set up well for bicycle commuting), and his interest in biking continues today. He accepted his first academic position at the University of Wyoming in 1976. As stated earlier, Rich entered the academic world so he could teach, but initial idealism met reality when his first courses did not go well. However, he attended the 1977 ASEE Summer School for Chemical Engineering faculty at the Snowmass ski resort near Aspen, CO. Implementing ideas from the presentations and from advice he received at the meeting really helped; he received the College teaching award (voted by the students) at the University of Wyoming a few years later. This was the first of 17 teaching awards he would receive in his faculty career (11 of which were voted by students). His teaching awards include the 2011 ASEE Chemical Engineering Chemstations Lectureship Award and the 2013 National Society of Professional Engineers/ Professional Engineers in Higher Education/Sustaining University Program Engineering Education Excellence Award. The luckiest day of his life was November 28, 1977, when he took a flight from Denver to Spokane to give seminars at Washington State University and the University of Idaho. He struck up a conversation with a woman in the seat next to him. One thing led to another, and two years later he and Susan Richardson were married. They celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary in December 2017. While at Wyoming, Rich decided that he wanted additional research experience, so he accepted a position at the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)) in Boulder, CO in 1981. They were starting a program that focused on membrane science and technology, thus starting Rich’s career in membrane research. He wanted to continue teaching, so he also became an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering at CU−Boulder, where he taught classes and advised graduate students. In 1987, Professor Bill Krantz approached Rich about becoming a full-time faculty member at CU−Boulder in order to work with him to start an NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center focused on membranes. Rich had to recruit industrial sponsors and convince faculty to participate. This center, which is now called the Membrane Science, Engineering, and Technology (MAST) Center, has been very successful; it has been in continuous operation since 1990, and Rich served as the Center Director for many years. It currently has sites at the University of Arkansas and New Jersey Institute of Technology, and efforts are underway to include Pennsylvania State University. The MAST Center has funded over 110 research projects with over 60 participating
t is our pleasure to present this Festchrift to honor Prof. Richard D. Noble of the University of Colorado (CU)− Boulder, on the occasion of his formal retirement from the faculty after a total of 31 years as a professor there. Rich has been a great educator, mentor, colleague, and friend to a great number of people. He has published highly influential work in multiple fields, including ionic liquids, zeolites, and facilitated-transport membranes. Many of these manuscripts have appeared in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Rich was born in Newark, NJ on October 14, 1946 to Richard and Elaine Noble. He is the oldest of 7 siblings (6 boys and 1 girl). He attended Sayreville War Memorial High School, where he graduated as the top male in his class (12/ 250), behind 11 female students. He was elected Senior Class president and chosen as the boy most likely to succeed. He enjoyed sports, and after running track his freshman year, he played baseball the remaining three years. His love of baseball would carry over to his college career and into his adult life (as a season-ticket holder for the Colorado Rockies for many years). After high school, Rich attended the Stevens Institute of Technology, receiving a B.E. in Engineering with Honors in 1968. During his undergraduate years, he started to develop his ability for and enjoyment of teaching as an undergraduate student. He taught what were called “poop” sessions so other students could prepare for exams. In general, he would explain the course material and work out the solutions to previous exam questions; 10−30 students attended these sessions. Rich played baseball all four years while at Stevens, which was a Division III school with no athletic scholarships. Rich played outfield and with a batting average over .300 when he graduated. To attend Stevens, Rich applied for scholarships and loans, since his parents could not afford the tuition and housing costs. He appreciated the many people he never met who paid taxes and donated funds that were invested in him. This showed him the value of giving back, and it had a significant influence on Rich later in life. After graduating with his B.E. degree from Stevens, he worked for two years as process engineer for National Starch and Chemical Co. in Plainfield, NJ. He continued to take graduate courses in the evenings and took six courses in two semesters while working full time and received an M.E. degree in 1969. This industrial experience was very useful, but Rich decided he did not want to work in industry for his entire career. He realized that he enjoyed teaching and started to explore other options. Seeing an ad in the New York Times, he applied for and got a position as a high school science (physics and chemistry) teacher at a boarding school in England for one year. During school breaks and the following summer, he traveled around England and continental Europe. During his time teaching in England, Rich applied for Ph.D. programs. He was accepted at the University of California− Davis and headed to California after returning from England in © 2018 American Chemical Society
Special Issue: Richard Noble Festschrift Published: November 28, 2018 15961
DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.8b05295 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2018, 57, 15961−15962
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Editorial
He had just turned 50 at that point and thought that was a “big deal.” He was halfway up a 10-mile climb when he stopped at a rest area and said hello to a cyclist who asked Rich his age. When Rich told him, his response was, “You’re just a kid. I am 75.” Rich’s response was, “I hope that I can ride a bike when I am 75.” He is getting there (now 71). He has ridden his bike many times in France and has done many of the climbs used in the Tour de France. There are many chemical engineers and even chemists who have been positively influenced by Rich’s work as a professor. Although he has formally retired from the CU−Boulder faculty and stopped teaching classes, he is remaining active in research as a Research Professor there. Consequently, it will be a while before he rides his bike off into the sunset.
faculty and produced 31 M.S. and 46 Ph.D. degrees. Center research has also provided proof-of-concept results that led to almost $34 M of additional “spin-off” funding. The center was recently awarded an additional five years of NSF funding and so will continue to be an excellent example of industryuniversity collaborative research. Rich has been very fortunate to collaborate with excellent colleagues and friends over the years, many of whom have submitted publications for this Festschrift. In addition, many excellent Ph.D. students, postdoctoral researchers, and undergraduates contributed to his success; he has 35 research publications with undergraduate students as coauthors. He currently has over 340 publications, 80 patents and patent applications, 24 672 citations, and an h-index of 90, according to Google Scholar. Rich has also received 15 awards for his research, including three national awards (the ACS National Award in Separation Science and Technology, the AIChE Separations Division Clarence G. Gerhold Award, and the AIChE Institute Excellence in Industrial Gas Technology Award), plus two international awards (the Chair d’Excellence Pierre de Fermat at Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France and the IChemE Innovator of the Year Award). Rich has provided professional service to AIChE, ACS, and ASEE, but he is most proud of his community service. He has always felt that it is important for those who have benefited from society to give back. In 1988, he volunteered with a nonprofit agency in Boulder called Voices for Children. This agency trains volunteers that work with juveniles who are in the legal system due to abuse and/or neglect. These volunteers work with lawyers, social workers, foster parents, and others, acting as an adult advocate for the child. Rich worked as a volunteer for several years for different children, including some difficult cases. He then participated on the Board of Directors for the agency, including a term as president. He has received four service awards, including the AIChE Institute Service to Society Award, primarily for his community service activities. Rich has been fortunate to have taken sabbaticals and lived in Europe several times. While working at National Bureau of Standards in 1986, he spent six months in Rome working at an Italian national laboratory. There, he worked on various membrane applications, including an artificial pancreas. He also spent two sabbaticals at the European Membrane Institute in Montpellier, France, focusing on inorganic membranes. For his latest sabbatical, he spent six months at the Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France. He received a Chair d’Excellence position from the regional government, and these funds allowed Rich to continue the collaboration afterward. Three Ph.D. students from that university have done a portion of their research at CU−Boulder with Rich. Rich has often stated that he had three objectives when living in a foreign country: learn the language (he speaks French), gain some professional experience, and visit the country and learn about the culture and the people. He and his wife have been fortunate to be able to obtain these experiences, and he continues his collaborations with his French colleagues. Rich has a true passion for bicycle riding. It started in graduate school at UC Davis as a means to commute and became a part of his life when he moved to Boulder. He commutes to CU most of the year by bike, and he has participated in many one-day and multiday rides in Colorado. He likes to tell the story of one cyclist that he met on “Ride the Rockies”, a week-long ride through the Colorado mountains.
Jason E. Bara*
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, United States
Douglas L. Gin
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Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Chemical & Biological Engineering, University of Colorado−Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. ORCID
Jason E. Bara: 0000-0002-8351-2145 Douglas L. Gin: 0000-0002-6215-668X Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.8b05295 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2018, 57, 15961−15962
