H. Scott Fogler, the Vennema Professor of Chemical Engineering and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan, died on August 21, 2021, at age 81. A Fellow of AIChE, Fogler served as the Institute’s president in 2009.
Career
Fogler was a member of the University of Michigan faculty for more than 55 years, serving as Associate Dean of the College of Engineering (1981–1984) and as Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering (1985–1990).
In recent years, his research group became known for its work in chemical reaction engineering in petroleum engineering, with Fogler focusing on problems in upstream research in areas including asphaltene and paraffin deposition. This work enabled Fogler to serve on President Obama’s commission studying the flow of diluted bitumen in the Keystone Pipeline.
Author
Over his career, he published more than 240 articles and was the author of 12 books, including the Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering, 5th Edition; and Essentials of Chemical Reaction Engineering.
Contributions to AIChE
Fogler’s contributions to AIChE also spanned more than fifty year — with many of his contributions emphasizing the education of current and next-generation engineers. As a chair of the Education programming group, he established an AIChE Symposium Series on chemical engineering education. He also served on AIChE’s ABET Accreditation Committee, the Publications Committee, and the Chemical Engineering Technology Operating Council (CTOC).
AIChE Academy
As AIChE’s president-elect in 2008, Fogler launched the ChemE on Demand learning program, and set the groundwork of the AIChE Academy. As president in 2009, he founded AIChE’s International Sister Student Chapters Program — which stimulated the creation of more than 100 new AIChE student chapters outside North America.
Chem-E-Car Competition®
While serving on the AIChE Board of Directors in the 1990s, Fogler proposed the idea for an undergraduate student chapter competition that would demonstrate chemical engineering principles to the general public. That idea evolved into the AIChE Chem-E-Car Competition®. The competition has become a centerpiece of AIChE’s student conferences, including competitions held internationally. To honor Fogler, the AIChE Foundation endowed First Prize in the Annual Student Conference’s Chem-E-Car Competition in his name.
Fogler with Virginia Tech Student Chapter, the first place winners of the 2019 Chem-E-Car Competition®.
Giving back
Fogler also supported the endeavors of the AIChE Foundation through the McKetta Lifetime Giving Society, and he was a member of the endowment committee for the Summer School for Chemical Engineering Faculty program.
Education
Fogler earned his BS from the University of Illinois and his MS and PhD from the University of Colorado. In 2016, he received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain. He also held a diploma from the New Orleans School of Cooking.
Awards
In 1996, he was recipient of AIChE’s Warren K. Lewis Award for contributions to chemical engineering education, and in 2019 he received AIChE’s Van Antwerpen Award for Service to the Institute. In 2020, Fogler was named a Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year by the Michigan Association of State Universities.
Fogler is survived by his wife, Jan, and his children and their families. A memorial service is being planned for September, should COVID-19 restrictions allow.