Rutherford Aris

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Rutherford "Gus" Aris (born September 15, 1929 in Bournemouth , England , † November 2, 2005 in Edina , Minnesota ) was a British - American chemical engineer and applied mathematician at the University of Minnesota . He made a contribution to the development of mathematical models for the course of chemical reactions, especially with regard to thermal runaway and oscillating reactions .

Aris earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from the University of London at the age of 16, but did not receive the degree due to age reasons until 1948 at the age of 19. In the meantime, he worked as a chemical laboratory assistant at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), who supported his postgraduate studies at the University of Edinburgh between 1948 and 1950 . From 1950 to 1955 Aris worked again under Claude H. Bosanquet for ICI before he was a research assistant with Neal R. Amundson at the University of Minnesota in 1955/56 . From 1956 to 1958 Aris was a lecturer in technical mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. In 1958 he received his first professorship (Assistant Professor) at the University of Minnesota, although it was not until 1960 that he obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics and chemical engineering, in 1964 a D.Sc. there. His dissertation, The Optimal Design of Chemical Reactors , has been published as a book and has been translated into Japanese, Russian and Czech. In 1963 Aris received a full professorship, in 1978 with the title regents' professor a prominent position. From 1974 he was head of the chemical engineering department, in 1996 he retired . In the course of his career, Aris published 13 monographs and more than 300 scientific articles , and he supervised more than 65 theses and doctoral theses.

In addition to his work in chemistry and chemical engineering (including one in Latin ), Aris studied calligraphy and paleontology and published on palaeography and classical philology .

In 1971 Aris received a Guggenheim grant . In 1988 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering , in 1988 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . He held honorary doctorates following universities: University of Exeter (1984), Clarkson University (1985), University of Notre Dame (1990), National Technical University of Athens (1999).

When Rutherford Aris could not prevent the 1974/75 Who's Who from publishing a second entry on his person under the twisted keyword Aris Rutherford , despite repeated explanations of the facts , he invented a younger date of birth for his alter ego (born April 10, 1930 ), the middle name MacPherson , the field of applied distillation , the training facility Strath Spey and Glenlivit Institute of Distillation (named after the origin of the whiskeys Glenfiddich , Balvenie and The Glenlivet ) and other biographical details related to Scotland, Greece, whiskey and American football . After newspapers reported about Aris' joke, the 16-line entry on Aris Rutherford was no longer included in the next edition of Who's Who.

Rutherford Aris was married to Claire Holman Aris since 1958, the marriage remained childless. He died of complications from Parkinson's disease .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Simon Guggenheim Foundation - Rutherford Aris. In: gf.org. Accessed August 26, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter A. (PDF; 945 kB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Accessed August 26, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Aris, Rutherford
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aris, Gus; Rutherford, Aris
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-American chemical engineer and applied mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Bournemouth , England
DATE OF DEATH November 2, 2005
Place of death Edina , Minnesota