Robert W. Besant *59

Robert died Oct. 31, 2021, in Calgary, Canada.

He was born Feb. 5, 1935, in Winnipeg. A graduate of the University of Manitoba with a BSc. in Engineering in 1957, Robert earned an MSE at Princeton in 1959. 

In 1960, Robert joined the faculty of University of Saskatchewan and began a distinguished career of teaching and research, producing more than 300 refereed publications, plus many other technical reports, international conference presentations, seminars, and invited talks. He served 11 years as head of the mechanical engineering department and increased the number of graduate students from 10 to 90. 

In 1991, he was named “Engineer of the Year” by the Saskatoon Engineering Society and honored with an award of merit by the Canadian Housing Design Council. In 1992, he received the “Solar Person of the Year” award from the Solar Energy Society of Canada for passive solar and energy-efficient design. His research set the standards for industrial heating and ventilation and frost growth in energy recovery and continues to have a major impact on the energy conservation of building design in Canada and other industrial countries.

His wife, Joyce; sons Jeff and Garth; daughter Joan; and two granddaughters survive him.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.