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CHE Department History - Department Chairs
Dr. John P. O'Connell - (1981-1984)
 John
O'Connell came to the department in 1968 after completing his education at
Pomona College and MIT, receiving his Ph.D. from U.C.-Berkeley, and then working
at Union Oil Company. His areas of professional interest were the applications
of molecular physics to chemical engineering systems, the correlation of
thermodynamic and transport properties of multicomponent mixtures, and the
prediction of phase equilibria and interfacial phenomena. He, along with other
members of the Department, was active in a large research project on the
secondary recovery of petroleum from oil wells.
After John Biery's sudden death in 1981, the faculty asked John to take the
reins as chairman. He accepted, and filled that position until 1984. He
continued teaching thermodynamics while Chairman and had excellent rapport with
the students in spite of the fact that each year just before Spring Recess he
would give them a computer project that took the whole recess break to work out!
John won the Western Electric award for excellence in undergraduate teaching in
engineering in the Southeast. As faculty Counselor to the student chapter of
AIChE, he also led our students to win the best chapter award year after year in
national competition.
John loved to go camping with his family and came to work every day in a big
truck camper—quite a size contrast to Biery's motorcycle. John used the camper
to become acquainted with his new home state, Florida.
During his tenure as Chairman, O'Connell felt it was important to make contact
with alumni of the Department, relaying news of the Department and holding
luncheons and tours of the building prior to the homecoming football game each
year. He also set up a series of annual seminars with outstanding visiting
speakers, through which he was able to recruit a number of new, able faculty
members for the Department.
After his retirement as Chairman, John stayed on until 1988 before leaving to
accept a new challenge as Chairman of the CHE Department at the University of
Virginia, where he subsequently planned and supervised a new building for that
department. But John's ties to UF were strong, and he often returned for visits.
When he earned a sabbatical at Virginia, he spent it in UF's Chemical
Engineering Department.
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