International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 55 (2012) 513–514

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

In MemoriamProfessor Ralph L. Webb (1934–2011)

Ralph L. Webb died, after a protracted illness, on April 3, 2011.
He was a world-renowned expert on enhanced heat transfer, professor emeritus at the Pennsylvania State University, and editor ofthe Journal of Enhanced Heat Transfer. Ralph Lee Webb was born inParker, KS, on February 22, 1934. Son of Kenneth and Grace Webb,his early childhood and schooling was spent in this farming community, southwest of Kansas City. Subsequently, he went on topursue studies in mechanical engineering, receiving his BS fromKansas State University in 1957. Immediately thereafter, he served
for two years in the US Air Force at Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas,
NV. He then joined Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Schenectady, NY, studying part time at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institutefor his MS, which he received in 1962. His next position was withthe Trane Company of La Crosse, WI, as manager of heat transfer
research. He supervised 19 major projects in heat and mass transfer between 1963 and 1977.
Early in his career with Trane, while working full time, he foundthe time to complete a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota (1969), studying with Professors E.R.G. Eckert
and Richard J. Goldstein. His thesis led to his ﬁrst archival paper,
published in the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer in1971. Pioneering patents were issued in 1970 and 1972 describing
modiﬁcation of ﬁnned surfaces to augment nucleate boiling heattransfer, which were then commercialized by the company.
In 1977, he joined the thermal science faculty at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, as associate professor ofmechanical engineering. He was promoted to professor in 1981.
His only sabbatical was spent at the National Engineering Labora-

doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2011.09.047

tory, East Kilbride, Scotland (1990–1991). He retired from Penn
State in 2004 as professor emeritus of mechanical engineering.
During his 27-year academic career, he was a highly regarded
teacher and researcher. His courses for undergraduate and graduate students included the subjects of heat exchanger design, enhanced heat transfer, and applied heat and mass transfer. He
conducted extensive research in boiling, condensation, fouling,air-cooled heat exchangers, single-phase forced convection ofgases and liquids, and wetting coatings to promote thin liquidﬁlms. Professor Webb mentored 49 masters and 17 doctoral students to graduation. He also hosted several post doctoral researchers. He was committed to not only the progress of a student’s
thesis, but also to the student’s professional growth and general
well-being. His engagement with his students continued into theirprofessional careers, and he would often remark that his students
and their families were his ‘‘extended families.’’ This warmth andpersonal connection was indeed extended to the larger heat transfer community and numerous professional colleagues worldwide.
His practical technical expertise was conﬁrmed by the extensive
consulting engagements he had with 75 different organizations in
the USA, Asia, and Europe. Besides providing engineering and enhanced heat transfer expertise, he developed numerous computer
programs for design of different types of heat exchangers, suchas cooling towers, shell-and-tube exchangers, refrigerant evaporators, and automotive radiators, among others, for practical industrial usage. Furthermore, he consulted with several law ﬁrms andwas involved as an expert witness in several patent infringement
and heat exchanger litigation lawsuits.
Professor Webb was keenly interested in disseminating information on enhanced heat transfer. He and Professor Arthur Bergles
collaborated on early versions of a Bibliography on Augmentationof Convective Heat and Mass Transfer. They presented 7 shortcourses on ‘‘Augmentation of Heat Transfer’’ at ASME national
meetings from 1975 to 1986, as well as the ﬁrst European shortcourse on the subject, ‘‘Design Methodology for Enhanced HeatTransfer,’’ in Ulm, West Germany, in 1989. Professor Webb taught
several other short courses on various aspects of heat exchanger
technology.
Perhaps the most prominent contribution to research and practice in high-performance heat and mass transfer was the publication of his book Principles of Enhanced Heat Transfer (Wiley, 1994;
and 2nd edition, with N.-H. Kim, Taylor & Francis, 2005). This is
still the only comprehensive text on the subject. His own work,
documented in over 250 journal articles and conference proceedings, provided a solid foundation for the book. He continued tobe active in research after retirement, in spite of his illness, as evidenced by the publication of his last paper in the May 2011 issue ofthe IJHMT.

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In Memoriam / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 55 (2012) 513–514

He founded the Journal of Enhanced Heat Transfer in 1993. In his
editorial in the ﬁrst issue, he succinctly stated that ‘‘The key objective of the Journal of Enhanced Heat Transfer is to provide a single,
international forum for papers on enhanced heat transfer.’’ His desire was to see this journal eventually ‘‘viewed and accepted as ‘theplace’ to publish papers on enhanced heat transfer.’’ The scope ofthe journal was subsequently broadened to include ‘‘Theory andApplication in High Performance Heat and Mass Transfer.’’ Thatthe journal is currently in its 18th year of publication speaks volumes for his advocacy and efforts in promoting scholarship on
the subject.
Beginning in 1970, Professor Webb organized numerous symposium sessions at ASME conferences and other meetings. He lectured at seminars throughout the world. He served on committeesof AIChE, ASHRAE, ASME, and SAE. He chaired the ASME Heat
Transfer Division and was a technical editor of the Journal of HeatTransfer.
Professor Webb’s work did not go unrecognized. He was elected
Fellow of ASHRAE, ASME, and SAE. He received the ASME Heat
Transfer Memorial Award, the UK Institute of Refrigeration HallThermotank Gold Medal, and the AIChE Donald Q. Kern Award.
Professor Webb is survived by his wife, Sylvia R. Apple, of State
College, PA, two daughters, Janet Lee and her husband, Seungbi, ofSan Diego, CA, and Laura Tymas and her husband, Baron, of Durham, NC, and their children, Elias and Jesse. He also is survived
by two stepchildren, Scott Atkinson, of Springﬁeld, MO, and Amy
Cowperthwait, of Wilmington, DE.
It is clear that Professor Webb’s extensive professional activities
required most of his time. However, he was deeply into the restoration of antique clocks and building of new ‘‘Grandfather’’ clocks –to the extent that he was considered a Clockmaker.
We, his long-standing colleagues and former students, as wellas many friends in the ﬁeld of enhanced heat transfer, are saddened by Professor Webb’s passing, as documented in the many
tributes for the memorial service held three weeks after his death.
We cherish his memory, and will follow his lead in promoting highperformance heat transfer.

Richard J. Goldstein
Ephriam M. Sparrow
University of Minnesota, United States
W.J. Minkowycz
University of Illinois at Chicago, United States
Amar S. Wanni
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, United States
Thomas M. Rudy
Essex Consulting Group, United StatesMark A. Kedzierski
National Institute of Standards and Technology, United StatesNae-Hyun Kim
University of Incheon, South Korea
Wei Li
Zhejiang University, PR China
Thomas Adamek
University of Stuttgart, Germany
Klaus W. Menze
Raj M. Manglik
University of Cincinnati, United States
Wieland-Werke AG (retired)
Germany
Sujoy Kumar Saha
Bengal Engineering and Science University, India
Arthur E. Bergles
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Maryland,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
E-mail address: abergles@aol.com
Available online 17 October 2011