Published: May 30, 2014
Professor Emeritus Bob Sani at the Thula Thula game reserve in South Africa

We in the department are often asked about former ChBE faculty and staff: where they are, what they are doing. Below are updates on some of our wonderful former faculty and staff.

Professor Paul Barrick passed away a few years ago in his early 90s.

Professor Lee Brown and his wife reside in Albuquerque, within walking distance of the University of New Mexico where Brown has an appointment as a Research Professor in the Ddepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He confers with the department’s kinetics group as often as time and health permit.

Professor Jim Carley is living in Tucson, Ariz., at the distinguished age of 91.

Instrument Maker Willy Grothe is still machining from the comfort of home. He is listed on a 2014 patent for a process led by the Weimer group that uses concentrated sunlight to form syngas or hydrogen.

Professor R. Curt Johnson (retired 1986) passed away in 2003 at the age of 81.

Professor Bill Krantz (retired 1999) spent 32 years in ChBE; since 2009 he has been a visiting professor at the Singapore Membrane Technology Center at Nanyang Technological University where he is involved in research on water treatment and desalination. His idea for cryogels led to an Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) paper voted as ES&T‘s 2013 Best Paper on Environmental Technology and highlighted by Nature.

Professor Frank Kreith left CU in 1977 to help establish the Solar Energy Research Institute. He eventually came back in 2001 to teach in CU’s Mechanical Engineering department. He currently spends his time in Boulder advising students, remaining active on the US energy policy front and working on his autobiography.

Professor B. Elmer Lauer passed away in 2004 at the age of 97. Among his many accomplishments, Lauer was a co-author of A History of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Colorado from Its Beginning in 1904 until August 1962.

Professor Max Peters (retired 1987) passed away in 2011 at the age of 90. During his time at CU, he led the engineering school through the construction of the Engineering Center and wrote the widely known Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers.

Professor W. Fred Ramirez (retired 2008) is currently living in Boulder.

Professor Bob Sani (retired 2012) still lives in Boulder but is continually on the move. After 36 years at CU, he now has time to enjoy trips around the world – last month to Africa – and consult with colleagues in Singapore.

Professor Klaus Timmerhaus retired in 1995 after 42 years at CU. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1975 and in 2008 was named one of the Top 100 Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era, recognized for cryogenics science and practice by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He passed away in 2011 at the age of 86.

Electronics Engineer Norm Taylor (retired 1996) is still living in Boulder.

Professor Ron West (retired 1995) is living in Boulder. He co-authored the 5th edition of the Peters and Timmerhaus design text and more recently has co-authored several technology-assessment articles with Frank Kreith. Lately he is having fun contemplating the interpretation of entropy.

 (pictured: Professor Emeritus Bob Sani at the Thula Thula game reserve in South Africa)