Harold Alan Bunger (1896 – August 15, 1941) was the head of

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

's chemistry department and the director of the

Georgia Tech Research Institute The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. GTRI employs around 3,000 people, and was involved in nearly $1 ...

(then known as the Engineering Experiment Station) from 1940 until his death in 1941. Bunger was a member of the

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

, the Georgia Academy of Science, was a member of professional fraternity

Alpha Chi Sigma Alpha Chi Sigma () is a professional fraternity specializing in the fields of the chemical sciences. It has both collegiate and professional chapters throughout the United States consisting of both men and women and numbering more than 78,000 m ...

and honor societies

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...

, and Pi Lambda Epsilon.

Early life

Bunger was born in

Eaton, Ohio Eaton is a city in and the county seat of Preble County, Ohio, United States, approximately west of Dayton. The population was 8,375 at the 2020 census, down 0.4% from the population of 8,407 at the 2010 census. History Eaton was founded a ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree, a

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

degree, and a Ph.D., all from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech hired Bunger in 1927 as an instructor. He was promoted to head of the Chemical Engineering department in February 1940. Bunger was deeply involved in the creation of an industrial process for the economical production of

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

with help from researchers at the Engineering Experiment Station and the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

. Bunger had been involved in the creation of Georgia Tech's Engineering Experiment Station; after its first director, W. Harry Vaughan, left for a higher-paying job at the Tennessee Valley Authority in December 1940, Bunger was named acting director of the station. Less than a year later, Bunger died suddenly on August 15, 1941 while visiting

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Legacy

Georgia Tech's Bunger-Henry building is named after Harold Bunger and Arthur V. Henry. Built in 1964, it houses part of Georgia Tech's Chemical Engineering program.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunger, Henry 1896 births 1941 deaths Georgia Tech faculty Georgia Tech Research Institute people University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni People from Eaton, Ohio

Early life

Georgia Tech

Legacy

See also

References