Editorial pubs.acs.org/jced
Kenneth R. HallA Distinguished Educator, Scientist, and University Administrator retirement. In addition, between 1997 and 2001, Ken held a GPSA Endowed Professorship. During his career, he supervised numerous students: 32 Ph.D., 1 D.E., 19 M.S., and 6 M.E. His students have excellent careers in academia, industry, and the government. For his dedication to technical education, Ken received a number of teaching awards. Ken’s academic research resulted in approximately 270 journal publications, 8 books, 12 refereed GPA reports, and 16 panel reviewed publications, among which are a GPA standard and an ASTM Standard Practice. He is also the author of 14 patents on flow meters for compressible fluids and conversion of natural gas and biomass into liquid fuels. His research accomplishments were recognized through several awards among which are the 1997 Donald L. Katz Award of the Gas Processors Association and the 2000 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Award for Excellence in Industrial Gasses Technology. Ken is a fellow of the AIChE and of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The development of equipment and methods for the accurate measurement of physical property data and of insightful procedures for data treatment and modeling are the hallmarks of his professional career. His experimental work emphasized the measurement of PVT, enthalpy, and saturation data with state-of-the-art apparatus, some of which were unique in the world in terms of accuracy and operation range. His theoretical research focused upon the development of equations of state and their application in the vapor−liquid critical region of natural gases and related mixtures. His interests also included the modeling of compressible flows and the conversion of natural gas and biomass to liquid fuels. With this broad range of activities and interests, Ken received more than 70 grants while at Texas A&M University, including sponsorships from NSF, NBS, NIST, GPA, GRI, API, PRF, Shell, AMOCO, Sundstrand, Sohio, AGA, TEES, State of Texas, Savant, DARPA, and DOE. An advocate for research motivated by industrial problems, Ken acted as consultant for a number of companies in the oil, gas, and chemical fields. Profs. Philip T. Eubank, James C. Holste, Gustavo A. IglesiasSilva, and Ken N. Marsh were among Ken’s most frequent collaborators; however, he worked with researchers from all over the world. Notable is his strong collaboration with researchers from Latin America in the second half of his career. In particular, Ken was instrumental in the development of partnership programs between Colombian Universities and the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering of Texas A&M University. These programs created professional development opportunities for dozens of Colombian students, who went to College Station for their advanced degrees. Ken, himself, considers this as one of his most significant professional accomplishments.
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rof. Kenneth R. Hall retired from Texas A&M University in December 2015 after 41 years of outstanding service as an educator, scientist, and administrator. This special issue of the Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data celebrates his professional achievements with a collection of papers authored by some of the most distinguished researchers in the field of fluid properties and phase equilibrium. Ken obtained his B.S. from the University of Tulsa, in 1962, M.S. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1964, and Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma, in 1967, all of them in Chemical Engineering. In his own words, Ken chose Chemical Engineering because a friend said he was good in Math and Chemistry. Between 1967 and 1974 Ken worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia, with a stint at the Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven in 1971−72, where he was a Visiting Professor. In 1974, Ken joined Texas A&M University as an Associate Professor. At about this time, in 1976, Ken married Frieda Karner Hall. Ken has five children, Tara, Deidre, Kent, Keith, and Krysta, and two grandchildren so far, Alanah and Savanah. Ken was promoted to Professor in 1978. In 1999, he became Regents Professor, which is an honorary level of academic recognition within the Texas A&M University System. In 2001, he was awarded the Jack E. & Frances Brown Chair of Engineering of Texas A&M University, which he held until his © 2016 American Chemical Society
Special Issue: In Honor of Kenneth R. Hall Published: August 11, 2016 2649
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jced.6b00597 J. Chem. Eng. Data 2016, 61, 2649−2650
Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data
Editorial
Ken is a natural born leader. He directed during a total period of 21 years the TRC Hydrocarbon Project and the TRC Data Project, which made outstanding contributions to the technical literature on fluid properties. He was a member of the board of directors of several private companies and Universities abroad and had leadership or advisory roles in several institutions, such as the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Society for Testing and Materials, and National Science Foundation. At Texas A&M University, he served as Department Head, Associate Dean of Engineering, Senior Associate Dean for Research, and Associate Vice Chancellor for Engineering, among other positions. At the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), which is responsible for the management of externally funded research projects, Ken served as Assistant, Associate, and Deputy Director. His positions as the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies and the TEES Division Director of Texas A&M University at Qatar, which is a branch campus in Doha, were his last assignments within the Texas A&M University System. Ken arrived in Doha in 2011 and we had the opportunity of interacting with him frequently during more than four years. We learned to admire his critical and insightful analyses of technical materials and his willingness to share his thoughtful, and often unconventional, views on many matters. A conversation with Ken is always a learning experience because he is the epitome of “thinking outside the box”. Ken’s retirement from Texas A&M University is a loss to us, who love thermodynamics and a good conversation. However, the contributions he has made to the University in all fronts− research, teaching, and administration−will remain influential for many years to come. True, this is in the end of a 41-year chapter in his brilliant professional trajectory, but we are sure that Ken’s restless mind and soul will soon begin to write another one.
Marcelo Castier* Ioannis G. Economou
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Chemical Engineering Program, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Doha, Qatar
AUTHOR INFORMATION
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.jced.6b00597 J. Chem. Eng. Data 2016, 61, 2649−2650
