Charles Edward Wicks (July 9, 1925 — July 29, 2010) was an American

chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...

. He was a professor in the

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

Department at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

. His focus was

mass transfer Mass transfer is the net movement of mass from one location (usually meaning stream, phase, fraction or component) to another. Mass transfer occurs in many processes, such as absorption, evaporation, drying, precipitation, membrane filtration, ...

, which was the subject of the textbook he coauthored, ''Fundamentals of Momentum, Heat, and Mass Transfer''.

Early life, education, and career

Charles was born on July 9, 1925, in

Prineville, Oregon Prineville is a city in and the seat of Crook County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the first merchant located in the present location, Barney Prine. The population was 9,253 at the 2010 census. History Prineville was founded in 187 ...

, and was raised in

Albany, Oregon Albany is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, and is the eleventh largest city in that state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton counties, just ...

. He first studied at

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

before leaving for the military service. After returning from service, he completed his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at Oregon State College in 1950 (now

). He continued his studies at

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

(now

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

) in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, receiving his

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in 1952 and PhD in 1954. He then joined the faculty in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Oregon State University. He spent 34 years as a professor and adviser, the last 17 of which he was the department chair until his retirement in 1987. He was active in

AIChE The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was actually established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as a profession independent of chemists and mechanical engineers ...

and Chemical Engineers of Oregon, serving as president from 1973 until 1974. He was elected into the Oregon State Engineering Hall of Fame in 1999.

Books

* * Wick was also a coauthor on: 1st ed. (1969), . 2nd ed. (1976), . 3rd ed. (1984), , .

Death

Wicks died on July 29, 2010 of natural causes in

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 United ...

. His life was celebrated at Oregon State University in a standing room only event on September 17, 2010.

References

External links

Charles E. Wicks Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wicks, Charles E. 1925 births 2010 deaths People from Albany, Oregon People from Prineville, Oregon Willamette University alumni Oregon State University alumni Oregon State University faculty