Robert Byron Bird | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1924-02-05)February 5, 1924[1] Bryan, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | November 13, 2020(2020-11-13) (aged 96) |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (BS) University of Wisconsin (PhD) |
| Known for | FENE-P model |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Transport phenomena, Non-Newtonian fluids, Rheology, Polymers |
| Institutions | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Thesis | Intermolecular forces and the virial equation of state (1950) |
| Doctoral advisor | Joseph O. Hirschfelder |
| Doctoral students | Arnold Fredrickson Pierre Carreau Robert C. Armstrong |
Robert Byron Bird (February 5, 1924 – November 13, 2020) was an American chemical engineer and professor emeritus in the department of chemical engineering at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison. He was known for his research intransport phenomena ofnon-Newtonian fluids, including fluid dynamics ofpolymers, polymer kinetic theory, andrheology.[2] He, along with Warren E. Stewart andEdwin N. Lightfoot, was an author of the classic textbookTransport Phenomena.[3] Bird was a recipient of theNational Medal of Science in 1987.[4]
Robert Byron Bird was born on February 5, 1924, in Bryan, Texas. His father, Byron Bird, was a professor of civil engineering atTexas A&M University. In his,[5][6] Bird recounts he obtain his elementary and junior high education in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and thereafter he attending Central High school in Washington D. C. Bird attendedUniversity of Maryland from 1941 to 1943, where he was initiated into the Alpha Rho chapter ofAlpha Chi Sigma in 1943.[7] He had to discontinue his studies duringWorld War II, in which he served in theUS Army.[8][9] As a second lieutenant in the 90th Chemical Mortar Battalion, he saw action from the eastern Belgium to the Austrian border.Bird received his B.S. degree inchemical engineering from theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1947 and Ph.D. degree inphysical chemistry fromUniversity of Wisconsin in 1950. During 1950–1951, he was apostdoctoral fellow at Instituut voor Theoretische Fysica,Universiteit van Amsterdam underJan de Boer. During his postdoc, he co-authored his first textbook, the 1,200-pageMolecular Theory of Gases and Liquids, along with his advisorJoseph O. Hirschfelder and another UW-Madison professorCharles F. Curtiss.
Bird was a recipient of theNational Medal of Science; the Medal was awarded by PresidentRonald Reagan "for his profoundly influential books and research on kinetic theory, transport phenomena, the behavior of polymeric fluids, and foreign language study for engineers and scientists."[4] He was awarded theBingham Medal in 1974 for his outstanding contributions to the field ofrheology[10] andEringen Medal in 1983.[11]
He was a member of theNational Academy of Engineering since 1969, member of theNational Academy of Sciences since 1989, and a number of foreign academies, including theRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (1985),[12]Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences (1994). Bird was also a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1981,[13] theAmerican Physical Society since 1970, and the American Academy of Mechanics since 1983. In 2015 he was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 2004, Bird was granted the Dutch title Knight of theOrder of Orange-Nassau for his "exceptional contributions to the promotion of Dutch language and culture in the United States and at the University of Wisconsin".[14]
He was inducted into theAlpha Chi Sigma Hall of Fame in 2008.[7] He was recipient of theReed M. Izatt and James J. Christensen Lectureship in 2010.
Bird died in November 2020 at the age of 96.[15]
Bird was the coauthor of several influential books intransport phenomena andrheology, including the classic textbookTransport Phenomena, which was translated into many foreign languages, including Spanish, Italian, Czech, Russian, Persian, and Chinese and the 1200-page tomeMolecular Theory of Gases and Liquids.
Since the publication ofTransport Phenomena, the subject of transport phenomena has become a standard and essential course in chemical engineering curricula in universities in the U.S. and abroad.[7]
