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CHE Department History - Some Old Grad
Recollections
Wallace F. Armstrong - BSChE 1938
 When
I received my Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering in August of 1938, the
choice of jobs was very slim. The best was a paper mill job at $90.00 a month,
so I elected to go for a master's degree and spent the next year working under a
new professor, Dr. Ralph Morgen. He guided
me to a successful degree and kept in touch with me for many years.
But, alas, the job situation was still limited, and few or no companies came to
the campus to recruit. So I chose another alternative—I wrote to 21 different
chemical companies in the east, midwest, and south to alert them to my
availability. Then came a two week spring vacation tour of the area by car,
train, and bus. First stop was the American Chemical Society employment clearing
house at the annual meeting in Baltimore—six interviews and one tentative job
offer. The trip continued on through Delaware, New Jersey, New York City, Ohio,
Kentucky, Tennessee, and home. I wound up with two offers, accepted the one
farthest south, and ended up with a stimulating and happy career at the Ethyl
Corporation, retiring as Vice President of Manufacturing in 1980.
All of this was made possible by the education I received in the Chemical
Engineering Department at the University of Florida. We started off with a full
range of courses related to chemical engineering a year before the General
College program started, so I was in engineering all of my college life.
The early days on the campus were exciting for me, right from the day I arrived
at Buckman Hall. There were three students to a room, consisting of a bedroom,
study, and bath (which was shared with three other similar rooms)—all for
$24.00. Buckman now is considered a historical landmark. I know why.
There were 1000 freshmen in 1934, plus 2000 other students. Freshman
indoctrination week was followed by the upper class influx—all men. I
felt part of it all as I received my rat cap—a distinguishing feature that gave
us recognition as freshmen on all fronts including catching rides into town.
Friendliness was a requirement—we were told never to pass another student on
campus without a friendly "hello." The Honor System was firmly in place, was
practiced campus-wide, and was enforced by a Student Court. It meant a lot to
me, but it now appears to have become a vestige from a past civilization.
The class and laboratory work were well designed, although the chemical
engineering equipment was rather meager. The faculty was great, led by
Walter Beisler, head of the CHE
department, and supplemented by specialists in other fields of science, math,
English, economics, as well as some from civil, electrical, and mechanical
engineering (no computers—just slide rules). Of course, we were also privileged
(required) to participate in two years of ROTC—a modern, horse-drawn artillery
unit preparing for the unknown World War II period. It was not the most popular
class, but it did meet a need.
Extra-curricular activities were varied and abundant. There were plenty of
recreational opportunities, including a well-organized intramural program for
all, whether they be fraternities or dormitories or off-campus groups.
At the same time, and more to the point, there were memberships in the
engineering societies, opportunities to hear outside speakers, and participation
in special AIChE meetings on campus as well as with other schools. Bob Culver, a
classmate of mine, and I took on a special project one year to rehabilitate a
rather complex piping system, revising it for measuring water flow through many
types and sizes of fittings and using it to establish a complete set of friction
coefficients. Using the data obtained, we wrote a paper, submitted it to AIChE,
and presented it at a student chapter convention at the University of Tennessee.
We won first place and published it.
The annual engineer's day and engineer's fair were started during this period
and really stimulated a great deal of creativity as well as strengthening the
bonds between students, faculty and townspeople.
Some well-remembered faculty members were Newton Ebaugh, Jesse Mason (later head
of Chemical Engineering at Georgia Tech), Walter Beisler, Ralph Morgen, and A.P.
Black. As for classmates,I have kept (more-or-less) in touch with
Mack Tyner, Charlie Thomas, Bing Crosbie,
Max Carey, Bert Johnston, Byron Smith, Roy Burkholder, Al Smith, Lindy Walters,
Paul Vaughn, Andy Stokes, Bob Culver, and Bill
Chapman.
Carrying on the chemical engineering tradition is my son Bob, Professor and Head
of Chemical Engineering at MIT.
In conclusion, my years at the University of Florida and in chemical engineering
were very meaningful, and I am appreciative of the training I received. I have
been pleased with the tremendous progress of the Department since my days there
and was most impressed with the current facilities when I visited on my 50th
anniversary.
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