Thomas J. Hanratty *53

Thomas Hanratty, professor emeritus of chemical engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, died Aug. 24, 2016, at age 89. 

Hanratty graduated from Villanova in 1947 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, then earned a master’s of science degree from Ohio State in 1950 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton in 1953. He joined the faculty of the University of Illinois in 1953, and retired in 1997. 

He was a leading researcher in fluid mechanics, inventing electrochemical methods allowing measurement more exact than previously possible. These meant a new understanding of turbulence, mass transfer, and the behavior of chemical reactors. He was a leader in establishing a new academic discipline by relating microscopic behavior to small-scale interactions in important multiphase flows. 

Hanratty received many awards, most notably election to the National Academy of Engineering, the National Science Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received honorary degrees from Villanova and the Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers named him one of the most influential chemical engineers of the post-World War II era. 

He is survived by his wife, Joan; five children; and three grandchildren. A son predeceased him. 

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.