Published: April 12, 2008 11:14 pm            

Robert ‘Bob’ Nott Maddox

Robert “Bob” Nott Maddox, 82, Stillwater, died Wednesday, April 9, 2008, in Tulsa.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 14, 2008, in Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Perry, with Father William Powell officiating. Graveside services will be at 1:30 p.m. at Fairlawn Cemetery, Stillwater. Strode Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

He was born Sept. 29, 1925, in Winslow, Ark., to Robert Lee Maddox and Mabel Elizabeth Nott. He married Paula Robinson on Oct. 3, 1951, in Stillwater. They were married for more than 30 years at the time of her death in 1984. He married Pauline Razook in November 1987, and they were married nearly 20 years at the time of her death in 2007.

Bob Maddox graduated from high school at the age of 16 and became the first in his family to attend and graduate from college, receiving his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1948. He enrolled in graduate school at the University of Oklahoma and received a master’s in chemical engineering in 1950, and then after spending a year working with an engineering firm in Oklahoma City, he moved on to Oklahoma State University (then known as Oklahoma A&M College) and began work toward his Ph.D. in chemical engineering.

In September 1952, while working on his Ph.D., he served as a research assistant and a part-time instructor at the School of Chemical Engineering at OSU. He was designated again as instructor from September 1953 through August 1954 and, having completed his Ph.D. requirements, was appointed an assistant professor of chemical engineering in September 1954. He progressed to associate professorship, was appointed acting head in May 1957 and on March 21, 1958, was appointed to full professor and head of the School of Chemical Engineering. At the age of 32, Dr. Maddox was one of the youngest department heads at any accredited university in the nation. Dr. Maddox remained department head until October 1977.

Dr. Maddox had many firsts while with OSU’s chemical engineering department. As a graduate student, he received one of the first industry sponsored fellowships, the Dow Chemical Company Scholarship. In 1964, he initiated the Industrial Advisory Committee, which has made significant contributions in guidance and counsel to OSU’s School of Chemical Engineering.

In 1967, he initiated the Phillips Lectureship, a series unique in that it honors an outstanding chemical engineering educator with emphasis on educational contributions first and research plus professional activities secondly. This award has come to be highly recognized throughout the profession and continues to reflect favorably upon OSU Chemical Engineering and Phillips Petroleum, the co-sponsors.

In 1964, he helped install and was the first adviser of the Mu Chapter of Omega Chi Epsilon, the National Chemical Engineering Honorary Society.

Dr. Maddox’s technical capability was well established over the years through the publication of eight books, nine chapters in handbooks, nearly 150 technical publications, more than 30 other technical presentations, almost 90 short courses taught for engineers and consultation with 50 different corporate or institutional organizations. Dr. Maddox was also a pioneer in the use of computers for classroom instruction and the development of simulation programs and has been described as “one of the fathers of modern day (computing) chemical engineering.”

Dr. Maddox’s professional activities were numerous. In the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, he served in every position from Membership Committee through chairman of the Central Oklahoma Section. He was an accreditation visitor, served on national program committees, was chair of the AIChE Department Heads Forum and served as member and on the Board of Directors of the Fuels and Petrochemical Division. In the American Chemical Society, he held nearly every position in the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Division, was on the Editorial Advisory Board of that Division, and served on the Canvassing Committee of the Murphree Award.

For the Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers, he occupied nearly every major position, including president of the Mid-North Chapter. For the Chemical Engineering National Honorary Society, Omega Chi Epsilon, he was national treasurer and national president. Dr. Maddox served on a cadre of editorial and advisory boards for various publications and organizations.

Professionally, many honors and recognitions were presented to Dr. Maddox during his lifetime. He was listed in nearly 20 “Who’s Who” and similar biographies. He was the first Joseph Stewart Distinguished Awardee of the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society. He was named Engineer of the Year in 1972 by the Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers. In 1981, he received the Andre’ Wilkins Memorial Award and he was a Fellow of both AIChE and the American Institute of Chemists.

Dr. Maddox also received the prestigious Hanlon Award from the Gas Processors Association in 1985 for his contributions to that industry. In 1987, Dr. Maddox awarded the Citation for Service by the Gas Processors Association, the first person ever to receive both the Citation for Service and the Hanlon Award.

In October 1987, the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Arkansas established the Dr. Robert N. Maddox Student Reference Center to recognize his contributions to the field. Chemical Engineering magazine presented Dr. Maddox the Award for Outstanding Personal Achievement in Chemical Engineering in December 1988. In February 1989, the Gas Processors Suppliers Association, in recognition of his many years of outstanding contributions to the gas processing industry through research, teaching and engineering, announced the endowment of the Dr. Robert N. Maddox Professorship in Chemical Engineering at OSU.

Dr. Maddox was inducted into the University of Arkansas Engineering Hall of Fame in May 1989. The University of Arkansas also awarded him a Sc.D. honoris causa in May 1991 for his many contributions, especially for pioneering the use of digital computers in the engineering classroom and in process simulation. In 1994, Dr. Maddox was presented with the Founders Award by AIChE for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Chemical Engineering. In 1996, Dr. Maddox was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame.

Dr. Maddox also gave of himself outside of his profession. Dr. Maddox, himself an Eagle Scout, performed executive committee work with the Will Rogers Council and the Pawnee Bill District of the Boy Scouts of America. Also, he made contributions to the Chamber of Commerce Research Committee. A long-time member of the Episcopal Church, Dr. Maddox served as Lay Reader and Vestryman.

Dr. Maddox also had a long relationship with Sigma Nu fraternity having served as Adviser, Division Commander, Grand Councilman, Vice Regent and Regent (national president). In May 1988, he was inducted into the Hall of Honor of Sigma Nu fraternity to recognize his many contributions, including the revision of the Initiation and Meeting Rituals, and in 1991 he became a Charter Member of the Omega Society of Sigma Nu.

He is survived by his daughter, Deirdre Dexter, and her husband, Terry, and his son, Robert Maddox and his wife, Pam. He is also survived by four grandsons and one granddaughter, Daniel Dexter, David Dexter, Caitlin Maddox, Logan Maddox and Cameron Maddox.

Condolences may be e-mailed to the family and an online obituary may be viewed by visiting www.strodefh.com.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.