Clarke Hermance, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at the University of Vermont, died Sept. 18, 2016, after a short battle with cancer. He was 79.

In 1958, Hermance earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Yale. In 1964, he graduated from Princeton with a Ph.D. in mechanical and aeronautical engineering, researching solid rocket-propulsion ignition and combustion. Hermance spent a year in Sweden studying at the National Aeronautical Research Institute. Then he moved to Canada and worked in the mechanical engineering department of the University of Waterloo.

In 1982 Hermance became a professor and chair of the mechanical and civil engineering department at the University of Vermont. He continued his research involving composite solid propellants and the elimination of diesel-combustion particulates by filtration of the exhaust. He also continued with his research into the pyrolysis of organic waste materials.

Hermance retired from Vermont in 2000. He immersed himself in playing clarinet in local bands and an amateur orchestra as well as at his local church. He cared for his wife, Harriette, in her last years. They had married in 1963.

He is survived by two daughters and one granddaughter. He was also predeceased by a son.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.

Graduate Class of 1964