Page 5 - CEMS News Summer 2020

CEMS NEWS
In Memoriam: Lanny Schmidt
Regents Professor Emeritus Lanny Schmidt was a beloved faculty member, colleague, advisor, mentor, and friend.
Regents Professor Emeritus Lanny D. Schmidt passed away on March 27, 2020, with his wife, Sherry, by his side. He was born on May 6, 1938 in Waukegan, Illinois. He received his BS in chemistry from Wheaton College in 1960 and PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1964. He served on the CEMS faculty for 49 years (1965-2014). He was a beloved faculty member and supervised approximately 90 PhD theses and 15 MS theses at Minnesota.
His research focused on various aspects of the chemistry and engineering of chemical reactions on solid surfaces.
He also researched catalytic partial oxidation to convert methane and higher alkanes into syngas, olefins, and oxygenated hydrocarbons using monolith catalysts operated autothermically with very short residence time. Renewable fuels such as alcohols, biodiesel, carbohydrates, and lignocellulose were also areas of interest.
Schmidt published over 350 papers in refereed journals
and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1994 Among his many honors, he was awarded the Neal R. Amundson Award at the 3rd North American Symposium on Chemical Reaction Engineering, Parravano Award (1997) by the Michigan Catalysis Society, the Alpha Xi Sigma Award (1993) by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and a Humboldt Prize (1994) from Germany. He was also honored by several institutions through supported lectures.
Lanny & Charlotte (Sherry) Schmidt, along with Lanny’s student, Duane Goetsch, and his wife, Nancy Dickerson, created the “Lanny and Charlotte Schmidt and Duane Goetsch and Nancy M. Dickerson Fellowship” in 2003 to support CEMS graduate education.
Alumni and friends who wish to honor Lanny Schmidt with a memorial gift to this graduate fellowship may do so securely online: z.umn.edu/lanny or by contacting Courtney Billing (cbilling@umn.edu; 612.626.9501).
Regents Professor Emeritus Lanny Schmidt served on the CEMS faculty for 49 years, retiring in 2014. Photo credit: Richard Anderson Photography.
Alumni Remembrances
Sam Blass (PhD MSE ’13): I was one of Lanny’s last PhD students. Lanny had an adventurous creative spirit when it came to research. He taught me to take bold leaps and not be afraid of failure. I’ve taken those lessons to heart and still find myself thinking about my time with Lanny and my fellow “Schmidtsters” to this day.
Barbara Timm-Brock (ChE ’82): Lanny Schmidt was a favorite professor and also was my assigned advisor — I say “assigned” because I never visited him for formal advice until seeking his sign-off on my graduation credits.
continued on page 8
CEMSnews Summer 2020 5