Frederick Dominic Rossini (July 18, 1899 – October 12, 1990) was an American thermodynamicist noted for his work in

chemical thermodynamics Chemical thermodynamics is the study of the interrelation of heat and work with chemical reactions or with physical changes of state within the confines of the laws of thermodynamics. Chemical thermodynamics involves not only laboratory measurem ...

. In 1920, at the age of twenty-one, Rossini entered

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, and soon was awarded a full-time teaching scholarship. He graduated with a B.S. in

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 ...

in 1925, followed by an M.S. degree in science in

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistica ...

in 1926. As a result of reading Lewis and Randall's classical 1923 textbook ''Thermodynamics and the Free Energy of Chemical Substances'' he wrote to Gilbert N. Lewis and as a result he was offered a teaching fellowship at the

University of California at 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 uni ...

. Among his teachers were Gilbert Lewis and

William Giauque William Francis Giauque (;''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia'', 2004. May 12, 1895 – March 28, 1982) was a Canadian-born American chemist and Nobel laureate recognized in 1949 for his studies in the properties of matter at temperatures clo ...

. Rossini's doctoral dissertation on the heat capacities of strong electrolytes in aqueous solution was supervised by Merle Randall. His Ph.D. degree was awarded in 1928, after only 21 months of graduate work, even though he continued to serve as a teaching fellow throughout this entire period. He worked at the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...

(Washington, DC) from 1928 to 1950. In 1932, Frederick Rossini, Edward W. Washburn, and

Mikkel Frandsen Mikkel Frandsen (1892–1981) was a Danish American physical chemist noted for experiments involving chemical thermodynamics, oil, and heavy water. Also known as deuterium oxide (D2O), heavy water is used to produce nuclear power and is used in ...

authored "The Calorimetric Determination of the Intrinsic Energy of Gases as a Function of the Pressure." This experiment resulted in the development of the Washburn Correction for bomb calorimetry, a decrease or correction of the results of a calorimetric procedure to normal states. In 1950, he published his popular textbook ''Chemical Thermodynamics''. In that year he also moved to the

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 ...

(Pittsburgh), where he remained until 1960. He served as dean of the Notre Dame College of Science from 1960 to 1967. In 1973, Dr. Rossini spent the spring academic quarter at Baldwin-Wallace College, in Berea Ohio, as the first distinguished professor to occupy the Charles J. Strosacker Chair of Science. The Baldwin-Wallace College student union was named after "the late Dr. strosacker, who was vice president of The Dow Chemical Company, ndwas a B-W trustee for 17 years. The college union was named in his honor in 1963." Awards *In 1965 he became the recipient of the Laetare Medal. *In 1965 he received the

John Price Wetherill Medal The John Price Wetherill Medal was an award of the Franklin Institute. It was established with a bequest given by the family of John Price Wetherill (1844–1906) on April 3, 1917. On June 10, 1925, the Board of Managers voted to create a silver ...

. *In 1966 he received the William H. Nichols Medal. *In 1971 he received the Priestley Medal. *In 1977 he received the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

for his "contributions to basic reference knowledge in

."Frederick Rossini
– Biography, US National Academy of Sciences.

References

External links

Encyclopedia of Baldwin Wallace University History: Dr. Frederick Rossini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossini, Frederick 1899 births 1990 deaths Thermodynamicists American physical chemists Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering alumni National Medal of Science laureates Laetare Medal recipients University of Notre Dame faculty 20th-century American chemists