Robert Byron Bird (February 5, 1924 – November 13, 2020) was an American chemical engineer and professor emeritus in the department of chemical engineering at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. He was known for his research in

transport phenomena In engineering, physics, and chemistry, the study of transport phenomena concerns the exchange of mass, energy, charge, momentum and angular momentum between observed and studied systems. While it draws from fields as diverse as continuum mec ...

of non-Newtonian fluids, including fluid dynamics of

polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

s, polymer kinetic theory, and

rheology Rheology (; ) is the study of the flow of matter, primarily in a fluid (liquid or gas) state but also as "soft solids" or solids under conditions in which they respond with plastic flow rather than deforming elastically in response to an applie ...

. He, along with Warren E. Stewart and Edwin N. Lightfoot, was an author of the classic textbook

Transport Phenomena In engineering, physics, and chemistry, the study of transport phenomena concerns the exchange of mass, energy, charge, momentum and angular momentum between observed and studied systems. While it draws from fields as diverse as continuum mec ...

. Bird was a recipient of 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 science, behavior ...

in 1987.

Childhood and education

Robert Byron Bird was born on February 5, 1924, in Bryan, Texas. His father, Byron Bird, was a professor of civil engineering at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. In his, Bird recounts he obtain his elementary and junior high education in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and thereafter he attending Central High school in Washington D. C. Bird attended

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

from 1941 to 1943, where he was initiated into the Alpha Rho chapter of

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 ...

in 1943. He had to discontinue his studies 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 ...

, in which he served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary 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 the United Stat ...

. As a second lieutenant in the 90th Chemical Mortar Battalion, he saw action from the eastern Belgium to the Austrian border. Bird received his B.S. degree in

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 ...

from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

in 1947 and Ph.D. degree 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, statistical mech ...

from

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1950. During 1950–1951, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Instituut voor Theoretische Fysica, Universiteit van Amsterdam under Jan de Boer. During his postdoc, he co-authored his first textbook, the 1,200-page Molecular Theory of Gases and Liquids, along with his advisor Joseph O. Hirschfelder and another UW-Madison professor Charles F. Curtiss.

Awards and honors

Bird was a recipient of the

; the Medal was awarded by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

"for his profoundly influential books and research on kinetic theory, transport phenomena, the behavior of polymeric fluids, and foreign language study for engineers and scientists." He was awarded the Bingham Medal in 1974 for his outstanding contributions to the field of

and Eringen Medal in 1983. 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 ...

since 1969, member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

since 1989, and a number of foreign academies, including the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

(1985), Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences (1994). Bird was also a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

since 1981, the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

since 1970, and the American Academy of Mechanics since 1983. In 2015 he was elected a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. In 2004, Bird was granted the Dutch title Knight of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

for his "exceptional contributions to the promotion of Dutch language and culture in the United States and at the University of Wisconsin". He was inducted into the

Hall of Fame in 2008. He was recipient of the Reed M. Izatt and James J. Christensen Lectureship in 2010. Bird died in November 2020 at the age of 96.

Books

Bird was the coauthor of several influential books in

and

, including the classic textbook ''Transport Phenomena'', which was translated into many foreign languages, including Spanish, Italian, Czech, Russian, Persian, and Chinese and the 1200-page tome ''Molecular Theory of Gases and Liquids''. * * * * *''Dynamics of Polymeric Liquids'', Vol. 2, ''Kinetic Theory'', with C. F. Curtiss, R. C. Armstrong, and O. Hassager, Wiley, (1977, 2nd ed. 1987). Since the publication of ''Transport Phenomena'', the subject of transport phenomena has become a standard and essential course in chemical engineering curricula in universities in the U.S. and abroad.

References

External links

Oral history interview transcript for Robert Byron Bird on 22 May 2016, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives
- Session I, interview conducted by Alan Jeffrey Giacomin in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

Oral history interview transcript for Robert Byron Bird on 23 May 2016, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives
- Session II, interview conducted by Alan Jeffrey Giacomin in Devil's Lake, Wisconsin * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Robert Byron 1924 births 2020 deaths People from Bryan, Texas Military personnel from Texas Chemical engineering academics American chemical engineers American physical chemists American fluid dynamicists University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Grainger College of Engineering alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Physical Society National Medal of Science laureates Writers from Texas United States Army personnel of World War II