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OLAF ANDREAS HOUGEN
1893-1986
BY CHALMER KIRKBRIDE
OLAF ANDREAS HOUGEN professor emeritus of-the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin, died January 7, 1986, at the age of ninety-
two. He hac! been associated almost continuously with the
Chemical Engineering Department at that school from 1916
until his retirement in 1963 and indirectly thereafter for
twenty years. He macle major contributions to the clevelop-
ment and growth of the "modern" (1925-1945) concept of
chemical engineering.
Professor Hougen's ancestry is traceable to fifteenth-
century Norway. All four of his grandparents emigrated
from Norway in the I8OOs and homesteaded in Iowa ancI
Dakota.
Olaf Hougen was born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on Oc-
tober 4, 1893, the eldest of six children. His family livecI in
Decorah, Iowa, from IS97 to 1907 and then moved to Ta-
coma, Washington. He entered the University of Washington
in Seattle in ~ 9 ~ I, at the age of eighteen. In those days, there
were no courses in unit operations, material and energy bal-
ances, heat and mass transfer, engineering thermodynamics,
or process design. Studying mathematics beyond calculus
was discouragecI. There were no textbooks in chemical engi-
neering except those of a descriptive nature cleating with in-
(lustrially appliecI chemistry. In addition, throughout his col-
lege years, Olaf- and most other students were required
207
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208
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
to find employment to finance their education. Hougen re-
corclect that the entire cost of his college education was
$1,689.92, of which he earned $1,044.80, or about sixty per-
cent.
Upon graduation in 1915, there was no professional em-
ployment available to him. In the fall of 1916, however, he
began his long association with the University of Wisconsin.
Later, during his first year of graduate studies, on April 6,
~ 9 ~ 7, war was clecIarec! on Germany. In May ~ 9 ~ 8 Hougen
was drafted, incluctec! at Camp Grant, and left for military
training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia. Shortly thereafter, he
was singlet! out for chemical warfare service and assigned to
Saltville, Virginia, in June 1918.
There, in the "salt capital" of the Confederacy, his assign-
ment was to prepare sodium cyanide through the newly in-
vented Bucher process, which involved the interaction of ni-
trogen with a pelletized mixture of sodium carbonate, coke,
and iron oxide at high temperatures. The clesired product
was recovered by extraction with liquid ammonia. Hougen
nearly lost his life during this assignment by acci(lentally in-
haling the cyanide when removing accumulations of solids
from an evaporator.
Following an honorable discharge from the army, he re-
turnect to Madison, Wisconsin, married Olga Berg, anct
moved to Niagara Falls for employment with Carborundum
Company. Here his duties inclu(lecl studying the properties
of refractories for use in high-temperature environments.
In September 1920 he became an assistant professor at the
University of Wisconsin at the modest salary of $ ~ 50 a
month. Despite the fact that advanced degrees in fields such
as chemical engineering were considered unnecessary at Wis-
consin, Hougen worked during the summer months on his
doctoral thesis. The project that constituted his thesis work
hac! been initiated at the request of the American Gas Asso-
ciation; its objective was the development of the theory of gas
absorption in spray and packed towers. The work was con-
ducted by Hougen and a graduate student namer! Kenneth
M. Watson.
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OLAF ANDREAS HOUGEN
209
With the exception of two summers clevoted to his thesis
work, when Hougen was not in classes he spent most of his
time working in industry. He found such employment to be
necessary for financial reasons. In retrospect, he seems to
have been fortunate in this experience in that it led him to
emphasize industrial applications in his subsequent work.
The decade from 1925 to 1935 was the era in which the
greatest advances were macle in the fielct of chemical engi-
neering. These advances occurred most particularly in the
development of the principles of material and energy bal-
ances. During this period, Kenneth Watson suggested to
Hougen that the two of them collaborate to clevelop a text on
the subject. Their product, Industrial Chemical Calculations,
was published by John Wiley in 1936.
In 1938 Hougen acivanced to the rank of full professor at
Wisconsin, a step that marked the turning point in his career.
Thus, twelve years after receiving his doctorate, years that
had been full of frustration ant! lack of support, his talent
and energies were finally releasecI. With tenure established
ant! the prospect of talented graduate students with whom
he couIc! work, he was finally able to devote time to experi-
mental and theoretical studies. The focal point of his re-
search became the extension of studies that he had begun in
1925 and to which Alan Colburn had contributed most sig-
nificantly in ~ 929.
Woric! War Il also hacl a profound effect on Hougen's ca-
reer in that it postponed research activities everywhere.
Luckily, Kenneth Watson returned to Wisconsin in 1942 and
worked with Hougen on a number of endeavors, including
advances in chemical engineering theory and practice, teach-
ing, and research, as well as plant design, construction, and
operations. They also initiated an ambitious program on ap-
plied kinetics and inclustrial reaction rates. In 1942 the
American Chemical Society, uncler Hougen's chairmanship,
sponsored a symposium on the subject.
It was cluring this time that the text Industrial Chemical Cal-
culations was reviser! and extenclecI, giving place to Material
and Energy Balances as the first part of another work, Chemical
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210
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
Process Principles. In acIdition, Hougen devoted a great deal
of time to the National Defense Research Committee and the
War Production Board on matters related to the war effort.
He also responclec! to a request from the Advisory Commit-
tee on Inclustry of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Supply
that he prepare reports on progress in the woricl silicate in-
dustries.
Following the Chicago kinetics symposium, the University
of Wisconsin Research Committee allotted an annual sum of
ten thousand clolIars for a ten-year period to conduct re-
search on the principles of industrial reaction rates, kinetics,
and catalysis. The research sponsored by this support paved
the way for further research on thermodynamics anct ap-
pliecl kinetics and ultimately lecl to the books Thermodynamics
and Kinetics, which were coauthored by Hougen and Ken-
neth Watson. The former was later revised in collaboration
with Rolanc! Ragatz.
Especially satisfying and enjoyable to Hougen were his two
Fulbright professorships, one in 1951 to Norges Tekniske
Hogskole in Trondheim, Norway, and the other to Japan in
1957. His influence in the two countries resulted in signifi-
cant changes in teaching methodology, as attested to by
teachers ant! practitioners, alike. Returning from Japan by
way of Taiwan, Inctia, and Thailand afforded Hougen the
opportunity to provicle public lectures, to visit those coun-
tries' universities, and to meet faculty and students. As he
tract hoped, such exposure served to encourage many stu-
clents from these countries to pursue chemical engineering
studies at Wisconsin. From 1961 to 1963, he was science at-
tache to the Scandinavian countries and lived in Stockholm,
Sweden.
Olaf Hougen retired in 1963 but continued to be actively
involved in numerous public service and literary projects.
One project from which he derivect much satisfaction was the
preparation of an historical account of the University of Wis-
consin's Department of Chemical Engineering. Also highly
prized by Hougen was his receipt of the Royal Order of St.
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OLAF ANDREAS HOUGEN
211
Olav, First Class, which was conferred by King Haakon in
~ 969 in appreciation for his service to Norway. He was
elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1974.
Olaf was a lifelong member of the Lutheran Church and
contributed both substance and time to its activities. His wife
Olga flier! in 1976. His remaining years were spent in a re-
tirement home in Madison, Wisconsin.
Olaf Hougen's life was one of selfless dedication to his fam-
ily, his profession, his students and associates, and the many
ant! varier! social and professional groups with which he was
affiliated. His was a life showing great self-restraint and a
vitality that fount! expression in his professional work, in his
public service, and in love for his fellow man. Much of his
genius lay in his ability ant! desire to identify talent in others
anct to create an environment in which that talent could
flourish ant! bear fruit.
Although it may, incleed, be said that he contributed to
major changes in the practice and teaching of chemical en-
gineering during a period of forty years, it is the magnificent
inventory of goodness that has accumulated in the lives of
those with whom he lived and worked that is Olaf Hougen's
chief contribution.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
andreas hougen
