Obituaries

Rutherford Aris, 76, emeritus professor of chemical engineering and classics, died on Nov. 2.

Among Aris' most important technical contributions are detailed explanations for sudden temperature runaways and oscillating behavior of processes involving chemical reactions. His work in these areas led to better design and control of potentially explosive chemical processes and safer industrial operations. He also pioneered new mathematical techniques for optimizing and controlling chemical manufacturing processes. His work on chemical kinetics and chemical reactor design provided a deeper understanding of observed phenomena.

Born in Bournemouth, England, he completed a first-class honors degree in mathematics at the University of London at the age of 16, but the university did not think it was proper to award a degree until he was 19. After working in industry at ICI Ltd. and taking academic positions at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Minnesota, Aris received external Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees from the University of London in 1955. He became a Regents Professor at Minnesota in 1978. Aris mentored more than 65 M.S. and Ph.D. students. His awards included election to the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

In the latter part of his career, Aris pursued his deep interest in paleography, including ancient manuscripts, by taking an appointment in Minnesota's classics department.

Having an enormous facility with languages, he once published a technical paper written entirely in Latin. He was a superb calligrapher who encouraged others in this art. He organized seminars with eclectic themes and cultivated in his students and colleagues an appreciation of the arts.

Aris had a wonderful sense of humor and enjoyed pranks. Sometime after he was listed in Who's Who, the publisher began sending him a second questionnaire to complete under the name Aris Rutherford. Even after repeated letters to the publisher stating that there was no such person, the questionnaires kept coming. So Aris completed the questionnaire for this fictitious person. Aris Macpherson Rutherford was listed as a colorful professor of distillation who had trained at the Strath Spey and Glenlivit Institute of Distillation. After the newspapers were alerted to this entry in Who's Who, the prank was uncovered.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Claire; a brother; and two sisters.

James A. Campbell, 79, a professor of chemistry, died on July 30.

Campbell was born in Washington, D.C. At 17, he enlisted in the Navy during World War II, overcoming restrictions against his age, height, and enlarged heart. After serving with distinction in the Navy, he earned a B.S. at the University of Illinois in 1948, an M.S. in education at the University of Southern California in 1956, and a Ph.D. in 1984.

For more than 25 years, Campbell was a professor at El Camino College in California. He was also a pillar of the Health Education Preparedness Program (HePP) at the USC School of Medicine. HePP assists disadvantaged young adults in preparing for medical school. Campbell taught courses in science and ethics in the program, but also assisted students with their medical school applications, coordinated the curriculum, and wrote the grant proposals each year that kept the program funded. At least two of the doctors he assisted through HePP cared for him during his final illness.

He is survived by his companion, Victor Catalan, and two cousins. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1962.

Wing S. Fong, 74, a process engineer, died on Oct. 18.

Fong earned a B.S. in chemical engineering in 1954 and an M.S. the following year from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Over the next 11 years, he worked for several large corporations on the East Coast, including American Cyanamid. In 1966, he headed to California to work with Stanford Research International. During his 30-year tenure with the company, Fong worked on numerous major projects as a senior research consultant for the Process Economics Program Group.

He is survived by his wife, Lourdes; three children; and four grandchildren. An emeritus member, Fong joined ACS in 1956.

W. Brock Neely, 79, an environmental chemist, died on Nov. 8.

He originally hailed from Ontario. In 1948, he graduated with a B.S. in agricultural chemistry from the University of Guelph. After completing his Ph.D. in biochemistry and mathematics in 1952 at Michigan State University, Neely did two years of postdoctoral studies at Ohio State University and the University of Birmingham, in England. He spent 1956 and 1957 at the U.S. Biological Center at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md.

Neely worked at Dow Chemical for 29 years. His main focus was analyzing the fate and transport of chemicals added to the environment. He published extensively on the groundbreaking subject and created a model that could estimate concentrations of chemicals from spills into rivers. He was a member of the Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board. After his retirement from Dow in 1986, Neely created EnviroSoft, a company that provided consulting for environmental issues.

He maintained an interest in teaching throughout his career, both as an adjunct professor and by serving on a collegiate advisory board.

For 20 years, Neely and his good friend Robert Pollack owned and operated an apple and chestnut orchard. Two weeks before his death, Neely was harvesting apples and pruning trees.

He is survived by his wife, Mary; three children; and six grandchildren. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1952.

Allen N. Webb, 83, an industrial chemist, died on Oct 9.

He graduated with a B.S. in chemistry from Kansas State University. After attending one semester at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago as a fellow of the Institute of Gas Technology, he was selected to work on the Manhattan Project. His team researched separating boron isotopes. After World War II, he returned to his formal education. He completed his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1949.

Webb spent 31 years as a research chemist at Texaco and worked at different sites. He started out in New York, specializing in petroleum catalysts and fuel-cell research. He spent one year in Ghent, Belgium, and four years in Port Arthur, Texas, before retiring to Austin.

He served as the chair and president of the Catalysis Club of New York and chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Catalysis.

Outside the lab, he took photographs, traveled, hiked, and biked.

He is survived by his wife, Georgine; three children; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. An emeritus member, he joined ACS in 1945.

Obituaries are written by Rachel Petkewich. Obituary notices may be sent to r_petkewich@acs.org and should include detailed educational and professional history.