Vladimir Haensel, professor emeritus of chemical engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, died Dec. 15 at the age of 88. A winner of the National Medal of Science, he had a profound impact on his profession. He had been elected to both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences, and was a Distinguished University Professor at UMass.

Dr. Haensel served as professor of chemical engineering from 1981 until his retirement in 1998. Prior to joining the university, he had a distinguished career with UOP (formerly Universal Oil Products) and was the company's vice president for research. Haensel led the UOP team that invented "platforming," a chemical engineering process essential in producing clean fuel for transportation and in supplying materials to the plastics industry. The process uses extremely small particles of platinum, one of the world's most precious metals, to drastically speed up certain chemical reactions, efficiently converting petroleum to high-performance fuels. The technique is widely considered to be one of the most significant in chemical engineering within the past 50 years. Platforming creates cleaner-burning high-octane fuel, eliminating the need to add lead to gasoline.

For this and other distinguished contributions in catalysis, Dr. Haensel received many honors including: the National Medal of Science in 1973; memberships in both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering; the Professional Progress Award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; and the Perkin Medal in 1967. He was the first recipient of the National Academy of Sciences Award for Chemistry in Service to Society. When he was 83 years old, Dr. Haensel was awarded the Charles Stark Draper Prize of the National Academy of Engineering. The prize is considered the engineering profession's highest honor. He was the first chemical engineer and university professor to receive this honor.

"Val's achievements, both in his industrial career with UOP, and later as a teacher and scholar at UMass, were truly extraordinary," said Peter Monson of the chemical engineering department at UMass.

Dr. Haensel was born in Germany in 1914, the son of Russian parents who returned to Russia when World War I began. The family later lived briefly in Germany, France and Austria before coming to the United States in 1929. He was educated at Northwestern University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then joined the UMass faculty at age 66, following 42 years in industry.



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