Morton Denn Explained

Morton M. Denn
Birth Name:Morton Mace Denn
Birth Date:7 July 1939
Birth Place:Paterson, New Jersey, USA
Occupation:Rheologist, professor
Period:1965-present
Albert Einstein Professor Emeritus of Science and Engineering
Spouse:Vivienne Roumani
Children:3, including Matt Denn
Awards:Fulbright Lectureship, Guggenheim Fellowship, Bingham Medal
Education:Princeton University (BScE),
University of Minnesota (PhD)
Thesis Title:"The Optimization by Complex Processes"
Thesis Year:1964
Doctoral Advisor:Rutherford Aris
Academic Advisors:William R. Schowalter, Arthur B. Metzner
Discipline:Rheology, chemical engineering
Workplaces:University of Delaware, Berkeley, City College of New York
Notable Students:Benny D. Freeman, Rakesh Jain, Yogesh M. Joshi, Glenn Lipscomb

Morton Mace Denn (born July 7, 1939) is a rheologist, chemical engineer, and the Albert Einstein Professor Emeritus of Science and Engineering at the City College of New York. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering,[1] [2] a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[3] and winner of a Fulbright Lectureship award, Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Bingham Medal. He previously taught at the University of Delaware and the University of California, Berkeley and was the director of the Benjamin Levich Institute for Physicochemical Hydrodynamics from 2001 to 2015. He was also a program leader at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for 16 years.

Early life

Denn was born on July 7, 1939, in Paterson, New Jersey to Herbert, a drugstore owner, and Esther Denn. He has one sister, Dorothy.[4] During his childhood, Denn was an active member of the Junior Congregation of Temple Emanuel of North Jersey in Paterson[5] [6] was part of his synagogue's Boy Scout troop,[7] and in 1957 served as the North Jersey Regional President of the Aleph Zadik Aleph youth organization.[8] He graduated from Eastside High School, where he was inducted into the National Honor Society,[9] in 1957.[10] He worked as a laboratory technician for the Linen Thread Company developing foamed plastic boat bumpers the summer before college.[11]

While at Princeton University, he was president of Hillel and a member of the Dial Lodge, Triangle Club, and band.[12] He wrote a senior thesis under William R. Schowalter on normal stress measurements and worked at the Dupont Engineering Research Laboratory[11] during the summers of 1960 and 1961. He graduated magna cum laude with a BScE in chemical engineering in 1961. He pursued his PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota between 1961 and 1964 and wrote his dissertation, "The Optimization by Complex Processes," under the supervision of Rutherford Aris.[11] After finishing his degree, he spent one year as a postdoctoral fellow in the University of Delaware's Chemical Engineering department, studying Non-Newtonian fluid mechanics with Arthur B. Metzner.[11]

Career

Denn joined the faculty at the University of Delaware in 1965 as an assistant professor of Computer Science; only a quarter of his academic appointment at this time was in Chemical Engineering. He became an associate professor of Chemical Engineering in 1968, a full professor in 1971, and the Allan P. Colburn Professor in 1977.[11] He moved to the University of California, Berkeley,[13] as Professor of Chemical Engineering in 1981 and served as the department chair from 1991 to 1994. He simultaneously held an appointment at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he was the program leader and founder of the Polymers and Composites Research Program in the Center for Advanced Materials from 1983 to 1999. He also headed the Materials Chemistry group in the Materials Science Division from 1995 to 1998.[11]

Denn joined the faculty of City College of New York[1] in 1999 as CUNY Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering. He also held an appointment in the physics department. In 2001, he became the Albert Einstein Professor of Science and Engineering and was appointed the third director of the Benjamin Levich Institute for Physicochemical Hydrodynamics, a role he held until 2015. He retired in 2014.[14] Students who worked in his lab include Benny D. Freeman, Rakesh Jain, and Glenn Lipscomb.[11]

During his career, Denn was a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1978-1985); Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (1979-1980); California Institute of Technology (1980); University of Melbourne (1985); Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1998-1999, 2009–2010); Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (2011, 2014); and University of Amsterdam (2012-2015).[1] [13] He worked as the sole editor[11] of AIChE Journal between 1985 and 1991 and as the editor for the Journal of Rheology from 1995 to 2005.[11] He also worked on the editorial boards for the Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics (1976-2019), Advances in Chemical Engineering (1984–85, 1993–2003), and Rheologica Acta (1995-2005) and as a consulting editor for AIChE Journal from 1991 to 1995.

Personal life

He married Marilyn Goldfarb in Teaneck, New Jersey on June 28, 1962[15] and had three children: Matt,[16] Susannah, and Rebekah. By 1996, he had married historian Vivienne Roumani.[11]

Selected publications

Articles

Books

Book chapters

Honors and awards

Year Award/honor Awarding body Notes Ref
1971 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation [18]
1977 Andreas Acrivos Award for Professional Progress in Chemical Engineering [19] [20]
1979 Project title: "Process dynamics and control and in polymer processing" [21]
1980 Reilley Lectureship [22]
1984 William H. Walker Award for Excellence in Contributions to Chemical Engineering Literature [23]
1986 Membership
For "the use of fundamental concepts in rheology and fluid mechanics for the understanding of practical processing behavior" [24]
1993 Chemstations Lectureship Division Award [25]
1998 Warren K. Lewis Award for Chemical Engineering Education [26]
1999 Institute Lecturer Award [27]
2001 Membership
[28]
2005 Distinguished Service Award [29]
2008 Founders Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Chemical Engineering [30]
2014 Lifetime Achievement Award in Chemical Engineering [31]
2015 Fellow [32]
Publication Award With R. Mari, R. Seto, and J.F. Morris
2020 With A. Singh, R. Mari, and J.F. Morris [33]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Morton Denn. 13 July 2015 . City College of New York . 2023-10-07.
  2. Web site: National Academy of Engineering . Dr. Morton M. Denn. 2023-10-07.
  3. Web site: Morton M. Denn. American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 2023-10-07.
  4. News: Herbert P. Denn. The Record. Hackensack, New Jersey, USA. 1992-02-15. 33. newspapers.com. 2023-10-08.
  5. News: Fabian Hebrew School. The Morning Call. Paterson, New Jersey, USA. 1952-03-14. 8. newspapers.com. 2023-10-08.
  6. News: Fabian School News. The News. Paterson, New Jersey, USA. 1948-01-16. 8. newspapers.com. 2023-10-08.
  7. News: Boy Scout trail. The News. Paterson, New Jersey, USA. 1952-05-02. 12. newspapers.com. 2023-10-08.
  8. News: AZA chapters hold Seder. The Morning Call. Paterson, New Jersey, USA. 1957-04-24. 11. newspapers.com. 2023-10-08.
  9. News: Eastside High honor society inducts gup. The Morning Call. Paterson, New Jersey, USA. 1955-11-17. 33. newspapers.com. 2023-10-08.
  10. News: 23 EHS students win $76,400 in scholarships. The News. Paterson, New Jersey, USA. 1957-06-20. 19. newspapers.com. 2023-10-08.
  11. Morton M. Denn. Chakraborty. Arup K.. Metzner. Arthur B.. Russell. T.W. Fraser. Chemical Engineering Education. 30. 2. 88–93. 1996. 2023-10-08.
  12. News: Hillel director to address unit of B'nai B'rith. The Morning Call. Paterson, New Jersey, USA. 1961-03-10. 10. newspapers.com. 2023-10-08.
  13. Web site: Morton Mace Denn. University of California, Berkeley. 2023-10-07.
  14. People. Chemical & Engineering News. 2001. 79. 43. 77. 10.1021/cen-v079n043.p077. free.
  15. News: Marilyn Goldfarb weds Morton Denn; couple to make home in Minnesota. The Herald-News. Passaic, New Jersey, USA. 1962-06-29. 43. newspapers.com. 2023-10-08.
  16. Web site: Matthew P. Denn, Esq.. Leadership Delaware. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20190714192408/https://leadershipdelaware.org/person/matthew-p-denn-esq/. 2019-07-14.
  17. Web site: Chemical process control / Alan S. Foss and Morton M. Denn, editors; [contributors] O. A. Asbjornsen ... [et al.]]. National Library of Australia. 2023-10-11.
  18. Web site: Guggenheim Fellow . Guggenheim Fellow . Guggenheim.
  19. Web site: National Society Selects UD's Lee for 2013 Professional Progress Award. Holt. Gregory. 2013-07-08. University of Delaware. 2023-10-07.
  20. Web site: Winners: Andreas Acrivos Award for Professional Progress in Chemical Engineering. American Institute of Chemical Engineers. 2023-10-07.
  21. Web site: Fulbright Lecturer . Fulbright.
  22. Web site: Reilly Lectureship. University of Notre Dame. 2023-10-11.
  23. Web site: William H. Walker Award for Excellence in Contributions to Chemical Engineering Literature. 28 March 2012 . American Institute of Chemical Engineers. 2023-10-07.
  24. Web site: Morton M. Denn - 1986 Bingham Medalist . Institute of Rheology.
  25. Web site: ASEE Chemical Engineering Division Awards . American Society for Engineering Education Chemical Engineering Division.
  26. Web site: Warren K. Lewis Award for Chemical Engineering Education. 28 March 2012 . American Institute of Chemical Engineers. 2023-10-07.
  27. Web site: Institute lecturer at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers . American Institute of Chemical Engineers. 28 March 2012 .
  28. Web site: HMorton M. Denn. University of Minnesota. 2023-10-07.
  29. Vancovuer 2005. Rheology Bulletin. January 2006. 75. 1. 15. 2023-10-07.
  30. Web site: Founders Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Chemical Engineering. 28 March 2012 . American Institute of Chemical Engineers. 2023-10-07.
  31. Web site: Morton M. Denn. American Institute of Physics. 2023-10-07.
  32. Web site: Morton M. Denn. Society of Rheology. 2023-10-07.
  33. Web site: Journal of Rheology Publication Award. Journal of Rheology. 2023-10-07.