 | |
| Vol. 18, No. 5 | Oct. 1, 1998 |
| |
| Vol. 18, No. 5 | Oct. 1, 1998 |
Three faculty members have been honored with named professorships in recognition of their distinguished and scholarly contributions as teachers and researchers, Provost Mel Schiavelli has announced.
Eric W. Kaler is now the Elizabeth Inez Kelley Professor of Engineering; and David L. Kirchman and J. Herbert Waite are both the Maxwell P. and Mildred. H. Harrington Professors of Marine Studies.
"Eric Kaler has received national acclaim for his work in the area of micellar chemistry, microemulsions and vesicular dispersions," Schiavelli said. "A leader in the chemical engineering field, he has made major contributions to the study of surfactant solution."
"With a global reputation in marine microbiology, David Kirchman has conducted research in measuring the carbon turnover by microorganisms in the ocean and has developed the principal methods for determining the turnover," Schiavelli said.
" A recognized authority on adhesive proteins and their cross-linking reactions in marine invertebrates, Herbert Waite is known nationally and internationally for his research," he said.
Kaler, who chairs the Department of Chemical Engineering, conducts research on the study of thermodynamics, microstructure and materials synthesis properties of complex fluids, including micelles, microemulsions and vesicles. He also in involved in the investigation of polymerization in complex fluids, colloidal stability and surfactant phase behavior.
One of the first to receive a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation in 1984, Kaler also received the Curtis W. McGraw Research Award from the American Society of Engineering Education in 1995 and the 1998 American Chemical Society Award in Colloid or Surface Chemistry.
The author or coauthor of approximately 130 papers and holder of five patents, Kaler is on the editorial board of several professional journals and is coeditor of the international journal, Current Opinions in Colloid and Interface Science.
A graduate of the California Institute of Technology, Kaler received his doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1982. He came to the University of Delaware from the University of Washington in 1989 and was a visiting professor at the Universitt of Graz in 1995.
Kaler's named professorship honors Elizabeth Inez Kelley, who attended the Delaware Women's College, later graduating from Drexel Institute of Technology. For many years, she served as assistant and private secretary to the president of Merck Chemical Co.
Marine bacteria are the most abundant life form on Earth and are important in understanding fluxes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that may affect global climate. Kirchman has mapped out bacterial activity in the equatorial Pacific, the Arctic and Antarctic oceans.
He uses molecular methods to understand the degradation of natural biopolymers and the impact of organic pollutants on bacterial communities.
He served as editor of Limnology and Oceanography and on the boards of other professional journals and has published extensively in his field and has been active in professional organizations. At UD, he has served as director for the Marine Biology-Biochemistry program.
A graduate of Lawrence University, Kirchman received his master's degree and doctorate in environmental engineering from Harvard University.
Waite's research focuses on marine biomaterials such as the adhesion and fiber formation and molecular construction of the byssus of mussels and on how molecular architecture contributes to biomechanical properties such as strength, extensibility and toughness. Understanding the structure-function relationships of the mussel's adhesive molecules may ultimately lead to the development of "waterproof" glues and other materials with broad applicability in the dental and biomedical fields.
His research has received international attention and has been supported by the National Institutes of Health.
He has published extensively in his field, and an article on his research appeared in Science in 1997.
Waite is a graduate of Harvard University with a doctorate from Duke University. He joined the UD faculty in 1986.
The named professorships honor two Delawareans who had an enduring interest in Delaware's coast. Maxwell P. Harrington, EG '50, had a career in marine sciences, and Mildred Harrington was a longtime supporter of the College of Marine Studies.
