Kurt Falke Wissbrun was born in Brackwede, Westphalia, Germany on March 19, 1930. He moved to the United States in 1939, eventually obtaining his B.S. degree from the
University of Pennsylvania in 1952 and his M.S. as well as Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Yale University in 1953 and 1956 respectively. He took a position as Dreyfus
fellow at the University of Rochester from 1955 to 1957. He subsequently worked as a research chemist at Hoechst-Celanese (now the Celanese Corporation) in Summit,
New Jersey beginning in 1957. He was promoted to position of Group Leader in 1960, Research Associate in 1966, and Senior Research Associate in 1970. After retiring
in 1990, he served as Polymer Consultant. Additionally, Wissbrun served as an adjunct Professor of Chemistry at the University of Delaware beginning in 1974.
Wissbrun’s research at Celanese focused on the rheology and processing of linear polyethylenes, oxymethylene copolymers and thermotropic aromatic polyesters as well
as the interaction of ionic charges on polymers. Through his interactions with Prof Art. Metzner (1977 Bingham Medalist) he also became involved with studies on
shear-induced phase separation of polymer solutions. After devoting over forty years to the field, Wissbrun collaborated with John M. Dealy on the text
Melt Rheology and Its Role in Plastics Processing.
Wissbrun wrote numerous articles and book chapters over the course of his career and also obtained twelve patents for his work at Celanese. He is also the last
industrial researcher to receive the Bingham Medal from the Society (as of 2019). He was a member of the American Chemical Society, The Society of Rheology,
British Society of Rheology, and Sigma Xi. He served The Society of Rheology as president from 1995 to 1997 and the American Institute of Physics as a member
of the Governing Board in the 1990s. He was elected a Fellow of The Society of Rheology in 2015. Besides his research, Wissbrun enjoys golf, opera, and traveling.
Sources
Wissbrun, Kurt Falke. American Men and Women of Science, 29th ed.; Gale: Farmington Hills, MI, 2011; Vol. 1.
Wissbrun is President of Society of Rheology. Physics Today 1995, 48(12), 62.
October 21-22, 1990. Minutes of Meeting, Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics (accessed Jul 29, 2019).
Kurt Falke Wissbrun. Prabook (accessed Jul 29, 2019).
Consulting (Industrial) Faculty.
Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Delaware Graduate Catalog 1996-1997 (accessed Jul 29, 2019).
Wissbrun, Kurt. Comments from the President: Further Reflections on The Society. Rheology Bulletin 1997, 66(2), 3.
Photo Credit
AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives.