News Article
CBE Alumni Elected to NAE
Willhite and Robbins elected to National Academy of Engineering
On February 10, 2006, the National Academy of Engineering honored two Iowa State alumni by electing them to the academy. Congratulations to them both!
G. Paul Willhite. Willhite earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1959 from Iowa State. He received his Ph.D in chemical engineering in 1962 from Northwestern University. Willhite joined the University of Kansas faculty in 1969 and in 1974 he co-founded TORP, an internationally known program for studying methods of oil recovery in old reservoirs. TORP has spawned a technology transfer program that is a model for passing new technology to independent oil operators. Willhite has received many honors and awards during his career as a professor and chemical engineer. These include Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty in 1981, Distinguished Member Society of Petroleum Engineers in 1986, Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering from Iowa State University in 1995, John Franklin Carll Award in 2001 and the lOR Pioneer Award of Petroleum Engineers in 2004. Willhite has also been honored as a Miller Scholar in 2002 and has received the Excellence in Teaching Award from Kansa University in 1999. The NAE cites Willhite’s election in recognition of significant ”research, technology, and education outreach in tertiary oil-recovery processes.”
Lanny A. Robbins. Robbins received his bachelors degree from ISU in 1961, followed by an M.S. degree in 1963 and a Ph. D. in 1966. He is a Research Fellow with the Dow Chemical Company where he has developed many separation and purification unit operations, including melt crystal refining, AquaDetox™ aqueous purification devices for stripping impurities from water to the parts per billion range, and industrial wastewater purification technology to reduce trace impurities to unprecedented low levels of parts per quadrillion. He holds 20 patents, and is the author of the liquid-liquid extraction chapters in Perry’s Chemical Engineer’s Handbook and Schweitzer’s Handbook of Separation Techniques for Chemical Engineers as well as 6 peer-reviewed journal articles. His election to the NAE is in honor of “the development of novel commercial separation and purification processes for environmental control that have greatly improved the removal of trace impurities.” <//u><//a>
