Thomas H. Chilton
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Thomas H. Chilton (August 14, 1899 – September 15, 1972) was a
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 ...
and professor. He is considered a founder of modern
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 ...
practice and lectured widely around the world. He received numerous awards, including an honorary
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
and the
President's Certificate of Merit The President's Certificate of Merit was created June 6, 1946 by Executive Order 9734 signed by US President Harry Truman, "for award by the President or at his direction to any civilian who on or after December 7, 1941'' (see Attack on Pearl Harbor ...
. In 1994,
DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
named a laboratory in
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
for him.


Biography

Thomas Hamilton Chilton was born in
Greensboro, Alabama Greensboro is a city in Hale County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 2,497, down from 2,731 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Hale County, Alabama, which was not organized until 1867. It is part o ...
, son of a
Methodist Episcopal The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...
clergyman, poet and hymnodist,George E. Holbrook
Biography of Thomas Hamilton Chilton
''Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering'', Vol. 1, pp. 19-25 (1979). The National Academies Press. Retrieved May 9, 2011
Claudius Lysias Chilton, and Mabel Pierce Chilton. He was given the middle name Hamilton to honor a friend of the family. Chilton grew up in
Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
with the peculiar distinction of being the ninth child of a ninth child of a ninth child. Two older brothers founded Paragon Press and put him to work at a printing press, setting type by hand, which taught him to be attentive to detail. He attended
Sidney Lanier High School Sidney Lanier High School is a public high school in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. History Established in 1910 on the southern outskirts of downtown Montgomery, Alabama, the school was named for a Southern poet, Sidney Lanier, who lived in ...
in Montgomery, where he heard an employee of
Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...
explain how to make synthetic
phonograph record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...
s. This sparked an interest in chemical engineering. Chilton attended the
University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
for two semesters, quitting to earn money for tuition. He moved to New York City in 1917, moving in with his eldest brother. He attended
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, graduating in 1922 with a degree in chemical engineering. He began work as a research chemist in New York, receiving his first patent. In 1925, he joined
DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
in
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
, beginning what became a 35-year career leading its chemical research."Chemical Engineering: 1930's"
DuPont. Retrieved May 9, 2011
Chilton began his career just as chemical engineering was becoming established as its own discipline and he is considered to be one of the founders of modern chemical engineering practice.
Educational Resources for Particle Technology. Retrieved May 8, 2011
He and a colleague developed the Chilton-Colburn analogy, which became a fundamental principle of chemical engineering. Chilton was known for his work on
fluid flow In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids— liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) an ...
,
heat transfer Heat transfer is a discipline of thermal engineering that concerns the generation, use, conversion, and exchange of thermal energy (heat) between physical systems. Heat transfer is classified into various mechanisms, such as thermal conduction, ...
,
distillation Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separation process, separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distilla ...
and
absorption Absorption may refer to: Chemistry and biology * Absorption (biology), digestion **Absorption (small intestine) *Absorption (chemistry), diffusion of particles of gas or liquid into liquid or solid materials *Absorption (skin), a route by which ...
."Chilton Retires" (abstract)
Chemical & Engineering News Archives (August 31, 1959). Retrieved May 9, 2011
He began lecturing at universities in 1937. Chilton worked at DuPont from 1925 to 1959, leading its chemical research. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he worked with the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
and he was involved with the original design of the first
atomic energy Atomic energy or energy of atoms is energy carried by atoms. The term originated in 1903 when Ernest Rutherford began to speak of the possibility of atomic energy.Isaac Asimov, ''Atom: Journey Across the Sub-Atomic Cosmos'', New York:1992 Plume, ...
plant, the
Hanford Engineer Works The Hanford Engineer Works was a nuclear production complex established by the United States federal government in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project during World War II. The site, located at the Hanford Site on the Columbia River in Bento ...
. At the invitation of his colleague and friend,
Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...
, Chilton was among the select group of scientists to witness the first self-sustaining
nuclear reaction In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, a nuclear reaction is a process in which two atomic nucleus, nuclei, or a nucleus and an external subatomic particle, collide to produce one or more new nuclides. Thus, a nuclear reaction must cause a t ...
at
Stagg Field Amos Alonzo Stagg Field is the name of two successive football fields for the University of Chicago. Beyond sports, the first Stagg Field (1893–1957) is remembered for its role in a landmark scientific achievement of Enrico Fermi and the Metall ...
on December 2, 1942. After the war, he became involved in the
Savannah River Plant The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reservation in the United States in the state of South Carolina, located on land in Aiken, Allendale, and Barnwell counties adjacent to the Savannah River, southeast of Augus ...
, then the largest
nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
plant ever built by the Atomic Energy Commission. Upon his retirement, Chilton, who was known for being very particular about punctuation, was presented by his co-workers with a book that was entirely bereft of punctuation until the back of the book, where there was a page of periods, commas,
semicolon The semicolon or semi-colon is a symbol commonly used as orthographic punctuation. In the English language, a semicolon is most commonly used to link (in a single sentence) two independent clauses that are closely related in thought. When a ...
s, colons and other punctuation, accompanied by an invitation for him to insert them at his discretion. Chilton was active in the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers 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 engineer ...
and served as its president in 1951. Following his career at DuPont, Chilton was a
visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
and lecturer all over the world, including the
University of Kyoto , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff = 3,978 (Total Staff) , students = 22 ...
and
Nagoya University , abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya. It was the seventh Imperial University in Japan, one of the first five Designated National University and selected as a Top Type university of T ...
, where he was a
Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
lecturer; the
University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
in Australia; and universities in
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
and
Nancy, France Nancy ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Nanzisch'' is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the northeastern Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was Lorraine and Barrois, an ...
, again as a Fulbright lecturer. He also lectured at the
Birla Institute of Technology and Science Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) is a Deemed university in Pilani, Jhunjhunu, India. It focuses primarily on higher education and research in engineering and sciences. After expansion to a campus in Dubai, it has b ...
in
Pilani Pilani is a small city situated in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, India. Administratively, it forms a part of Jhunjhunu district. The place became popular since the establishment of BITS Pilani.The city is also the home to some of the olde ...
, India and the
University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-N ...
in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. His stints at American universities included the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
,
Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
, the
University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...
, the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
, the
University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
and the University of Alabama. Chilton died in
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
, Germany while traveling with his second wife.


Awards and recognition

Chilton was awarded an honorary
Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...
from the
University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...
in 1943. He received several awards from his alma mater, the Charles Frederick Chandler Medal in 1939, the Egleston Medal in 1942 and in 1950, the
University Medal A University Medal is one of several types of award conferred by universities upon outstanding students or members of staff. The usage and status of university medals differ between countries and between universities. As award on graduation Many ...
, which was presented to him by President
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
. In 1948, he received the
President's Certificate of Merit The President's Certificate of Merit was created June 6, 1946 by Executive Order 9734 signed by US President Harry Truman, "for award by the President or at his direction to any civilian who on or after December 7, 1941'' (see Attack on Pearl Harbor ...
for his contributions to the
National Defense Research Committee The National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the Un ...
. Chilton was posthumously awarded the
Lavoisier Medal A Lavoisier Medal is an award named and given in honor of Antoine Lavoisier, considered by some to be a father of modern chemistry.
for excellence. In 1994, the building where he had conducted much of his work for DuPont was named after him.


Personal

Chilton spoke fluent French and enjoyed
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
. He had a collection of photographic slides from his world travels. As a boy Tomas began the hobby of collecting
automobile license plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or Trailer (vehicle), trailer for offi ...
s. Eventually, he was recognized as having the world's largest collection (some 4,500) from all over the United States and around the world. In 1967, an article about this amazing collection appeared in
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
. His first wife was Cherridah McLemore and after her death, he married Elizabeth C. Rinehart, who, along with her late husband, had been friends of the Chiltons for decades. Thomas H. Chilton is a grandson of
William Parish Chilton William Parish Chilton (August 10, 1810 – January 20, 1871) was an American politician and author who served as a Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. Early life Called Will Chilton, h ...
, a member of the congress of the
Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
and the Chief Justice of the
Alabama Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is house ...
. In 1967 he published a genealogical reference called "Antecedents and Descendants of William Parish Chilton, 1810 - 1871". "
Bart Chilton Bartholomew Hamilton Chilton (May 1, 1960 – April 27, 2019) was an American civil servant. He was Commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 2007 to 2014. In April 2014, he joined DLA Piper as a Senior Policy Advis ...
, a former commissioner on the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an independent agency of the US government created in 1974 that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures, swaps, and certain kinds of options. The Commodity Exchange Ac ...
, is his grandson.CFTC's Energy-Industry Gadfly Gets His Way"
''The Wall Street Journal'' (June 12, 2010). Retrieved May 8, 2011


Publications

* ''Mass transfer (absorption) coefficients: Prediction from data on heat transfer and fluid friction'' (1934) * ''Distillation and absorption in packed columns: Convenient design and correlation method'' (1935) * ''The manufacture of nitric acid by the oxidation of ammonia: The Du Pont pressure process'' (1960) * ''Antecedents and descendants of William Parish Chilton: 1810-1871'' (1967) * ''Strong Water Nitric Acid: Sources and Methods of Manufacture, and Uses'',
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
Press (1968) ASIN B001S9AHFK


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Thomas H 1899 births 1972 deaths American chemical engineers Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni Manhattan Project people Fluid dynamicists 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American chemists