In this interview conducted through the Society of Rheology, William Schowalter reflects on his career in chemical engineering and rheology. Schowalter begins by sharing stories from his childhood in Wisconsin and his early interest in chemistry. He describes his time as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he studied chemical engineering. Schowalter then discusses his time as a graduate student at the Institute of Paper Chemistry and his burgeoning interest in fluid mechanics. He discusses his PhD work at the University of Illinois under Fraser Johnstone, where he worked on kinetics and catalysis of hydrazine chemistry, as well as turbulence. Schowalter also recalls his military service at the Army Chemical Center in Maryland. He then describes his decision to join the faculty at Princeton and his work on boundary layer theory. Schowalter reflects on his involvement in the Society of Rheology over the years, including his time in leadership positions and being awarded the Bingham Medal. He discusses his time as dean of engineering at the University of Illinois, as well as his various sabbaticals in places such as Cambridge and Caltech, and he talks about the books he wrote during those times. The interview concludes with Schowalter describing his work with universities in Singapore and Saudi Arabia, and he shares his thoughts on the globalization of science and research.
In this Oral History, Prof. Roger Tanner (University of Sydney) discusses his life and career in rheology with Gareth McKinley. Starting with discussion of his time growing up in England and working at the Bristol Aeroplane Company, attending Bristol University and then going to UC Berkeley on a King George VI Memorial Fellowship for a Master’s degree in control engineering. He describes the development of his interest in lubrication flows in bearings and first exposure to rheology through Frank Leslie and Arthur Lodge during his doctoral studies in Manchester, UK. He discusses in depth his work in Manchester, University of Sydney and Brown University as well as sabbaticals at the Rheology Research Center in Wisconsin and at the University of Delaware and time in academic administration as Pro-Vice Chancellor of Research. The historical development of the Australian Society of Rheology (ASR) is outlined as well as organization of the quadrennial International Congress of Rheology in Sydney (1988). He explains his first exposure to computational finite element schemes for analysis of viscoelastic die swell with Bob Nickell at Brown as well as his long-standing interests in simulating viscoelastic flows in complex geometries, constitutive model development (with Nhan Phan-Thien amongst others) and most recently the fluid dynamics of particulate suspensions with viscoelastic matrices.
In this interview R. Byron Bird discusses topics such as: his work in rheology and the history of the Rheology Research Center at the University of Wisconsin; his educational background in chemical engineering; polymer rheology; Joe Hirschfelder; his work at DuPont; John Tordella; University of Wisconsin, Madison; John Ferry; going as a lecturer to Kyoto University and Nagoya University; Society of Rheology; Arthur Lodge; Japanese Society of Rheology; Harold R. Warner; D. C. Evans; Ole Hassager; Chuck Curtiss; John Schrag; the writing of his two volume set; how foreign languages have been a part of his life.
In this interview R. Byron Bird discusses topics such as: his work in rheology and the history of the Rheology Research Center at the University of Wisconsin; his educational background in chemical engineering; polymer rheology; Joe Hirschfelder; his work at DuPont; John Tordella; University of Wisconsin, Madison; John Ferry; going as a lecturer to Kyoto University and Nagoya University; Society of Rheology; Arthur Lodge; Japanese Society of Rheology; Harold R. Warner; D. C. Evans; Ole Hassager; Chuck Curtiss; John Schrag; the writing of his two volume set; how foreign languages have been a part of his life.
The development of international societies of rheology, beginning with the formation of the American Society of Rheology in 1929; roles played by Eugene C. Bingham, M. Reiner, Wolfgang Ostwald, deWaele; major advances in rheology since 1925; Scott Blair's career.
A chat between two old friends covering the years 1932 (when Dillon became member of the Society of Rheology) to 1959 and Dillon's presidency of the Society. Eugene Bingham founder of Society, an industrial/and academic mixture; initial interest in diversity of materials; Polymers Society gets support from Chemical Foundation after 1940; the Mooney viscometer, viscosity versus plasticity (the creep curve; papers published in Journal of Applied Physics and from 1953 with separate rheology issues. Comments on international exchanges and involvement; British Rheologist Club. Also prominently mentioned is: A. Stuart Hunter.
