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This is the 28th volume of Memorial Tributes compiled by the National Academy of Engineering as a personal remembrance of the lives and outstanding achievements of its members and international members. These volumes are intended to stand as an enduring record of the many contributions of engineers and engineering to the benefit of humankind. In most cases, the authors of the tributes are contemporaries or colleagues who had personal knowledge of the interests and the engineering accomplishments of the deceased. Through its members and international members, the Academy...
This is the 28th volume of Memorial Tributes compiled by the National Academy of Engineering as a personal remembrance of the lives and outstanding achievements of its members and international members. These volumes are intended to stand as an enduring record of the many contributions of engineers and engineering to the benefit of humankind. In most cases, the authors of the tributes are contemporaries or colleagues who had personal knowledge of the interests and the engineering accomplishments of the deceased. Through its members and international members, the Academy carries out the responsibilities for which it was established in 1964.
Under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering was formed as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. Members are elected on the basis of significant contributions to engineering theory and practice and to the literature of engineering or on the basis of demonstrated unusual accomplishments in the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology. The National Academies share a responsibility to advise the federal government on matters of science and technology. The expertise and credibility that the National Academy of Engineering brings to that task stem directly from the abilities, interests, and achievements of our members and international members, our colleagues and friends, whose special gifts we remember in this book.
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BY THOMAS F. DEGNAN JR. AND MICHAEL P. RAMAGE
VERN WILLIAM WEEKMAN JR., a retired Mobil Oil research executive, passed away on Jan. 14, 2024, at Capital Health Medical Center in Hopewell, New Jersey. He was 92 years old. A longtime resident of Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, Vern was born on June 28, 1931, in Jamestown, New York.
Vern earned a B.S. and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Purdue University and an M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan. In May 2007, Purdue University awarded him a doctorate honoris causa in recognition of his contributions to the field.
He began his career at Mobil Oil Corporation in 1954 after receiving his M.S. but soon took a leave to serve as a first lieutenant in the United States Air Force from 1955 to 1957. Upon returning to Mobil, Vern was awarded a Mobil Incentive Fellowship, which allowed him to pursue his Ph.D. at Purdue while remaining a Mobil Oil employee. He completed his doctorate in 1963.
Except for a four-year period from 1976 to 1980, when he served as president of Mobil Solar Energy Corporation, Vern spent his 40-year career in Mobil’s research organization. He played a significant role in establishing Mobil Oil’s international leadership in catalytic petroleum processing, holding key positions as the manager of process research and development; the president of the Mobil Solar Energy Corporation; and the director of Mobil Oil’s Central Research Laboratory, where he oversaw the company’s basic and exploratory research in both upstream and downstream operations.
Vern’s major technical contributions were associated with chemical reaction engineering, heterogeneous catalysis, kinetics, mathematical modeling, and process control theory. His most widely cited work1 involved the “lumping” of hydrocarbon compounds in petroleum into reactivity-based classes, a concept that was immensely valuable in simplifying refinery process simulations. By introducing lumping models at Mobil, Vern set in place strategies that resulted in substantial financial benefits for the company, influencing the industry well beyond Mobil and later ExxonMobil.
After retiring from Mobil in 1996, Vern served as an industrial lecturer in the Chemical Engineering Department at Princeton University, where he also mentored numerous chemical engineering students.
Active in the American Institute of Chemical Engineering (AIChE), Vern was elected fellow of the AIChE and served as chair of its Government Relations Committee, as AIChE Director (1989-92), AIChE Vice President (1997), and AIChE President (1998). As part of AIChE’s Centennial Celebration in 2008, he was recognized as one of the top 100 Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era for his contributions to chemical reaction engineering, modeling, and catalytic cracking. He also served as a director of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, now known as the Science History Museum. Vern received numerous prestigious awards for both technical excellence and leadership in chemical engineering. He was named AIChE Institute Lecturer in 1978 and received the Purdue Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1980. In 1982, he was awarded the AIChE R.H. Wilhelm Award in Chemical Reaction Engineering, and in 2004, he received the Neal R. Amundson Award for Excellence in Chemical Reaction Engineering from the International Symposium on Chemical Engineering.
Elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 1985, Vern contributed extensively to NAE initiatives. He served on the Chemical Engineering Peer Committee (1988-91); the Committee on New Directions in Catalyst Science and Technology (1990-92); the Committee on Critical Technologies: The Role of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in Maintaining and Strengthening American Technology (1991-92). He was also a member of the Chemical Sciences Roundtable (1997-98); NAE’s Committee on Membership (1998); the Membership Task Group (1998-99); the Membership Policy Committee (2001-04); the Committee for Review of a Technology Assessment on Concentrating Solar Power Energy Systems (2002-03); and the Panel on Chemical Science and Technology in 2009.
A prolific researcher, he authored more than 35 technical publications, was the inventor or co-inventor of 12 U.S. patents, and presented over 50 papers at technical conferences.
Beyond his professional achievements, Vern was a lifelong sailor who owned several sailboats. Among other areas of intellectual interest, he had a deep appreciation for classical music, history, astronomy, and philosophy.
Vern is survived by his wife, Barbara Palm Weekman; his sons, Bill and David (Kathy); and his grandchildren, Madeline E., Colleen M. (Chase), Kaitlyn G., and David K. Weekman.
____________________________________ 1Jacob SM, Gross B, Voltz SE, Weekman VW Jr. 1976. A lumping and reaction scheme for catalytic cracking. AIChE Journal 22(4):701-13.