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| Henry K. Benson. Special Collections, UW Libraries, UW13435 |
| Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. |
Henry Kreitzer Benson (1877-1954) was a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Washington from 1904 to 1947. He received his B.A. and M.A. from Franklin and Marshall College in 1899 and 1902, respectively, and his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1907. When Benson joined the UW faculty, he was asked to design the program and curriculum for a chemical engineering department, and for this he was known as the "Father of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington." Benson was made head of chemistry in 1919, and became chief executive officer of the dual Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering between 1925 and 1947. His research interests included chemical engineering, the chemistry of soil, and work with the by-products and industrial waste of the pulp and paper industry. The Department of Chemical Engineering is now housed in a building named in Benson's honor.
The Henry K. Benson personal papers are made up primarily of his speeches, writings, and reprinted articles. Two lab notebooks from his time at Columbia University are also included, along with a file on his patent for a "Process for Making Sulphite Pulp from Douglas Fir and Other Resinous Conifers." The major subgroup documents the UW Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and contains correspondence, several files of publicity clippings, and information about the opening of the new Daniel Bagley Hall in 1937. A smaller subgroup relates to Benson's work with the American Paper and Pulp Association's National Committee on Waste Utilization and Stream Improvement.
Open to all users.
Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Accession #2702-77-22 transferred from Chemical Engineering Dept. by Courtenay Smith, Dec.3,1977; #2702-2-86-3 transferred from Special Collections, Dec.31,1985; Accession #2702-3, source unknown.
Processed 2003.
Photographs were relocated to the division's graphic collections on Dec.13, 1977.
| Box/Folder | Date | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1/32 | American Paper and Pulp Association, National Committee on Waste Utilization and Stream Improvement | 1928-1929 | |||||||||||||||||
