Paul Etienne Queneau (March 20, 1911 – March 31, 2012) was an American professor of chemical and metallurgical engineering at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

. He was a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

Biography

Queneau was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

on March 20, 1911, to Augustin Leon Jean and Abbie Jean (Blaisdell) Queneau, a descendant of Ralfe Bleasdale, who settled in Pemaquid Point in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

in 1635. His father was a French-born metallurgist who served as technical assistant to the president of the

United States Steel Corporation The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

. Queneau earned his B.A. from Columbia College in 1931, his BSc and E.E. from

Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (also known as SEAS or Columbia Engineering; historically Columbia School of Mines) is the engineering and applied science school of Columbia University, a private research university ...

in 1932 and 1933, respectively. After Columbia, he began working for the

International Nickel Company Vale Canada Limited (formerly Vale Inco, CVRD Inco and Inco Limited; for corporate branding purposes simply known as "Vale" and pronounced in English) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian mining company Vale. Vale's nickel mining and ...

(INCO). He volunteered in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was trained at the

United States Army Engineer School The United States Army Engineer School (USAES) is located at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. It was founded as a School of Engineering by General Headquarters Orders, Valley Forge on 9 June 1778. The U.S. Army Engineer School provides training that d ...

before being dispatched to Europe with the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

. He was awarded a

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

, an

Army Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issu ...

, and a European Theatre of Operation Ribbon with five campaign stars. Queneau returned to INCO after the war, and he focused on improving the environmental record of smelters with oxygen, developing a pioneering commercial oxygen reactor in 1952. He retired in 1969 as INCO’s vice president, chief technical officer, and assistant to the chairman. He then earned his doctorate from

Delft University of Technology The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft; ) is the oldest and largest Dutch public university, public Institute of technology, technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. It specializes in engineering, technology, computing, design, a ...

at age 60 and joined the faculty of the

Thayer School of Engineering The Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth (branded as Dartmouth Engineering) is the engineering school of Dartmouth College, a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Located in a three-building complex along th ...

in 1971. In 1971, Queneau and Reinhardt Schuhmann Jr. proposed the Q-S oxygen process that enables smelting in a single process within a continuous oxygen converter. They later partnered with the German engineering firm Lurgi and co-invented what came to be known as the Queneau-Schuhmann-Lurgi process for efficient lead extraction. Queneau was elected a fellow and served as a president of

The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) is a professional organization for materials scientists and engineers that encompasses the entire range of materials and engineering, from minerals processing and primary metals production to basic ...

in 1969. A geologist, he also helped photograph the Perry River region of the Arctic by a 13-foot canoe with artist and ornithologist

Peter Scott Sir Peter Markham Scott (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservation movement, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and Sportsperson, sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Fal ...

and zoologist Harold Hanson. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1981. Queneau died on March 31, 2012, at age 101 in

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university ...

Publications

References

1911 births Dartmouth College faculty {{DEFAULTSORT:Queneau, Paul E. Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni American chemical engineers American metallurgists Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Delft University of Technology alumni Fellows of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2012 deaths Educators from Philadelphia