36 Facts About Ralph Landau

Ralph Landau was an American chemical engineer and entrepreneur active in the chemical and petrochemical industries.

Ralph Landau is considered one of the top fifty foundational chemical engineers of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the 75 most distinguished contributors to chemical enterprise.

Ralph Landau has published extensively on chemical engineering and holds a significant number of patents.

Ralph Landau published more than 143 papers and nine books.

Ralph Landau was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he received his primary and secondary education.

Ralph Landau graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering in 1937.

Ralph Landau went on to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ralph Landau received funding from a national Tau Beta Pi fellowship, applicable at the university of his choice, and further financed his doctoral work by working as a teaching assistant and research assistant.

In 1943 Ralph Landau was invited to transfer to Kellogg's subsidiary, Kellex Corporation, to become head of the chemical department at the Manhattan Project's K-25 production plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Ralph Landau designed equipment to produce fluorine, a highly reactive substance used to make the uranium hexafluoride for the gaseous diffusion process.

Ralph Landau oversaw the production of the fluorinated compounds used to protect surfaces in contact with uranium hexafluoride, such as the perfluorocarbons perfluoroheptane and perfluoroxylene.

Ralph Landau saw the opportunity to develop a simpler process, using less expensive oxidants, to meet the needs of an expanding market.

Ralph Landau obtained the first of many patents, "Ethylene Oxide prepared by oxidation of ethylene using a silver catalyst", on November 27,1956.

Again, Ralph Landau's team had discovered a unique oxidation catalyst which enabled them to simplify the processes involved, reduce costs, and produce a high-grade yield.

Ralph Landau reorganized in 1963 to form Halcon International, in preparation for expansion.

Ralph Landau held an interest in the Brazilian firm Oxiteno, which he sold in 1985.

In 1982, Ralph Landau entered on a second career as a scholar.

Ralph Landau wanted to better understand why a technically successful company had been unable to sustain itself.

Ralph Landau's work focuses on the chemical industry, but applies its lessons to other industries as well.

In books such as The Positive Sum Strategy and Technology and the Wealth of Nations, Ralph Landau examined the ways in which countries, government policies and investments, and companies all interact to influence economic growth and technological advancement.

Ralph Landau conceptualized technology as capital and examined the economics of innovation and globalization internationally.

Ralph Landau saw himself as providing a bridge between academic economists, industrial and business leaders, and scientists and engineers developing new technology.

From 1983 to 2004 Ralph Landau served as consulting professor of economics and chemical engineering at Stanford University where he co-directed the Program on Technology and Economic Growth at Stanford's Center for Economic Policy Research.

Ralph Landau has served as a trustee or a member of visiting advisory committees at several universities, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and California Institute of Technology.

Ralph Landau has been a trustee of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a director of Alcoa, and Chairman of the American Section of the Society of Chemical Industry.

Ralph Landau has been a long-term supporter of his alma mater, MIT.

Ralph Landau was part of the Visiting Committee to the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT in 1966.

The committee strongly recommended the construction of a new building for the department, and Ralph Landau personally funded much of the cost of Building 66, the Ralph Landau Chemical Engineering Building.

The Ralph Landau Building at 579 Serra Mall, designed by Anshen + Allen Architects, was completed in 1994.

In 1977, Ralph Landau was one of nine trustees and alumni at the University of Pennsylvania who established a challenge fund for a Million Dollar match, to help the annual giving program reach its goal of $4.5 million.

Ralph Landau established the Robert R Marshak Term Professorship in Aquatic Medicine at the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Ralph Landau has received more than fifty awards, including several of the highest in his field.

Ralph Landau was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1972.

Ralph Landau served as a councillor from 1973 to 1979, and as vice president from 1981 to 1990.

In 1988 Dr Ralph Landau was elected a foreign member of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Ralph Landau was a fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1996.