William B. Russel

Princeton University

November 17, 1945 – September 24, 2023

Chemical Engineer

Awarded Bingham Medal 1999

Fellow, Elected 2015

William B. Russel began his studies in Chemical Engineering at Rice University, graduating with a B.A. and M.ChE. in 1969, then obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Stanford University in 1973. He was a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at the University of Cambridge from 1973 to 1974. After returning to the United States, Russel spent his entire career at Princeton University. Starting as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering in 1974, becoming Department Chair from 1987-1996. Russel also took on leadership roles as Director of the Princeton Materials Institute (PMI) from 1996 to 1998 and Dean of the Graduate School from 2002 until his retirement in 2014, overseeing a thirty-five percent increase in the number of graduate students. He also served as the Hougen Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin in 1984, the Unilever Visiting Professor in the School of Chemistry at Bristol University in 1991, and the Debye (Visiting) Professor in the Debye Institute at Utrecht University in 2001.

Russel's contributions to rheology are characterized by the integration of classical fluid mechanics with a comprehensive knowledge of the thermodynamics and statistical mechanics of colloids. The focus was an understanding and control of macroscopic rheology through knowledge of interparticle forces and the related phase behavior over a range of shear rates or frequencies. Russel made major contributions in at least four areas of suspension and polymer rheology: 1) the rheology of charged dispersions; 2) the effects of soluble polymer on phase behavior and rheology; 3) the elasticity and consolidation of colloidal gels, and 4) the connections between structure and rheology of concentrated dispersions. His work provided the first quantitative connection between rheology and equilibrium phase transitions due to interparticle attractions in dispersions. More broadly, Russel's research was a strong driver for the growth of modern colloid rheology and this body of work is summarized in the authoritative text, Colloidal Dispersions, that was coauthored with his Princeton colleagues, Bill Schowalter (1988 Bingham Medalist) and Dudley Saville.

Russel has been highly active in many professional associations and activities. He served on the Council for Chemical Research on the Governing Board of NASA in the early 2000s and more recently on the Executive Committee for the Association of Graduate Schools. His leadership roles within the research community include many years invested in The Society of Rheology, serving on the Executive Committee (1993 to 1995), being elected as President (2001 to 2003) as well as being awarded the Bingham Medal in 1999. He was also active in the National Academy of Sciences, serving as chair for the Founders and A. M. Bueche Awards Committee (2001) and on the Membership Committee (2007 to 2013). He was awarded the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ William H. Walker Award (1992) and the American Chemical Society’s Award for Surface and Colloid Chemistry (2007). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.