Cornelius J. Barton (born 1936, died 2024) is an American

metallurgical engineer Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

, businessman and the acting president of

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

from April 1998 until July 1999. He received bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. degrees in metallurgical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a member of the engineering honor society Sigma Xi and is a brother of the Delta Phi social fraternity. After his undergraduate work, from 1958 to 1961, he was employed as a Metallurgical Process Engineer at Olin's Nuclear Fuel Division, which manufactured

nuclear reactor core A nuclear reactor core is the portion of a nuclear reactor containing the nuclear fuel components where the nuclear reactions take place and the heat is generated. Typically, the fuel will be low-enriched uranium contained in thousands of indi ...

s for the

U. S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

. In 1961, Barton returned to R.P.I. for graduate work in Engineering. Upon earning an M.S. and Ph.D. in metallurgical engineering, he joined US Steel's Research Laboratory in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, as a research manager in the Advanced Applied Research Division. While at U.S.S., he authored several research papers in refereed journals, submitted patent applications for novel steel compositions, and completed a project sponsored by the U. S. Air Force for improvements and problem solving in a complex high-strength, high-performance family of steels. Barton then joined the Chase Brass & Copper Co. in 1969, a subsidiary of

Kennecott Copper Kennecott Utah Copper LLC (KUC), a division of Rio Tinto Group, is a mining, smelting, and refining company. Its corporate headquarters are located in South Jordan, Utah. Kennecott operates the Bingham Canyon Mine, one of the largest open-pit co ...

, as Director of Research and Development. From 1975 to 1980, he was General Manager of Chase Nuclear Inc. In 1981, he returned to Chase Headquarters in Shaker Heights, Ohio, to serve as Vice President, Technology, of Kennecott Engineered Systems Co., ( KESCO). When

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

of Ohio acquired Kennecott, the technologies of several Standard Oil manufacturing subsidiaries joined KESCO Technologies, and Barton's unit was renamed the Standard Oil Chemicals and Industrial Products Co. Technology Group. During the M&A activities engaged by Kennecott, Dorr Oliver Incorporated was acquired. Dorr Oliver's business was twofold: the separation of liquids from solids, for instance by

centrifugation Centrifugation is a mechanical process which involves the use of the centrifugal force to separate particles from a solution according to their size, shape, density, medium viscosity and rotor speed. The denser components of the mixture migrate ...

, and the application of Fluid-Bed technology to a variety of process engineering, and incineration activities, including coal-fired boilers with sulphur capture. Dorr Oliver was an International Corporation with 16 subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, North and South America and Licensees in Japan and South Africa. In 1986, Barton was appointed President of Dorr Oliver. Shortly thereafter, British Petroleum fully acquired Standard Oil and re-shaped and re-organized the energy activities. Dorr Oliver was sold, and an

LBO group A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...

bought the company; Barton remained as President and CEO of Dorr Oliver. The Management of Dorr Oliver subsequently performed an MBO to take the Company and manage it for growth. A significant period of world-wide growth occurred, leading ultimately to an offer of purchase for the Company In 1992, Harriman bought a 20 percent stake in Dorr Oliver. Dorr Oliver was then sold to a German company in 1995, and Barton retired as President after more than twelve years in that position. He has been a member of the

Rensselaer Board of Trustees Rensselaer may refer to: Places *Rensselaer, Indiana, a city **Rensselaer (Amtrak station), serving the city *Rensselaer, Missouri, a village *Rensselaer County, New York *Rensselaer, New York, a city in Rensselaer County *Rensselaer Falls, New Yo ...

beginning in 1991 until the present (as an active trustee from May 1991 through December 2012, and subsequently a trustee emeritus), and was the interim president of RPI from April 1998 until July 1999, until the current President, Shirley Ann Jackson was recruited. Barton Hall, a residence hall on the RPI campus that opened in 2000, was named in his honor.

References

External links

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Archives – Presidents – Biography of Cornelius J. Barton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Cornelius J. Presidents of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Living people American manufacturing businesspeople 21st-century American engineers 1936 births