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CHE Department History - Remembrances of a
Few Past Professors
Robert D. Walker, Jr.
M.S., 1944, University of Florida
 On
February 27, 1981, Dean Chen presented the College of Engineering's Eminent
Career Award to Professor Bob Walker. The occasion was celebrated with a
departmental luncheon followed by a colloquium honoring Walker. The speakers
were: Adrian Johnson (UF, '58), CHE Dept., Louisiana State, Professor Walker's
first Ph.D. graduate student; Keith Gubbins, CHE Dept., Cornell, a former
colleague in this Department, and E.N. Lightfoot, CHE Dept., Wisconsin, a
long-time friend. The celebration was highlighted by a banquet given by Dean
Chen for Professor Walker, his family, and friends.
Dean Chen referred to Bob Walker's many contributions to the Department and the
College. Indeed, there were many: he served as Chairman of the University
Library Committee as well as the College Library Committee; for three years he
performed as Acting Chairman of the Chemical Engineering Department; and he was
Co-Principal Investigator and Management Coordinator for the Oil Recovery
Research Program. In addition to guiding graduate students, he conducted a
series of research programs that included studies of the adsorptive properties
of Florida clays, the thermodynamics of fused salt cells, fused salt battery
technology, fuel cells, thermal batteries, and the solubility and diffusability
of anesthetics. He even conducted a project for the Canada Dry Co. of Florida to
develop an improved carbonated orange drink. The battery research was a large
project sponsored by the military that kept Walker and many of our students busy
for a number of years.
Bob began his college career at UF, entering as a freshman in 1928, but when his
family moved to Georgia, he completed his B.S. at Georgia Tech in 1935. While on
the UF faculty he sought and earned an M.S. from the Chemistry Department in
1951. Before coming to UF in 1944, he worked for the Eastman Kodak Co. doing
photographic research.
Bob was a "rock hound"—he collected rocks. His wife, Ginny, observed, "Bob is
the only person in the world who travels around the country with his head down."
Bob Walker retired in Gainesville 1982 after 38 productive years.
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