Brian Haynes - President of Combustion Institute

The Combustion Institute
5001 Baum Boulevard, Suite 635
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213-1851 USA
Telephone: (412)687-1366 Fax: (412)687-0340
Email: office@combustioninstitute.org

October 16th, 2007


Professor Jack B. Howard
CI_logo_hires24 Central St
Winchester, MA 01890-2630
USA


Dear Jack,

I was very sorry to learn of your illness, but heartened to be able to follow your progress and the family’s exploits behind it on the blog. Having Caroline on the case must encourage the medical teams to perform at their very best, for which we are all thankful.

It has been my pleasure over the past few years as President of the Combustion Institute to be able to honour some of the most illustrious members of our community at the time of their significant birthdays. Now with your 70th, I am able to do that truly from the heart because I have known your work and you personally now for more than 30 years. You and Carolyn showed me and Gillian great hospitality when I was at MIT from 1979-1981, at a time when we were starting our own family. While you and I did not work directly together, I learned first-hand of your unfailingly gentlemanly nature and scholarly disposition.

Your work in coal and other carbons, ranging from soot to fullerene, stands out for its breadth and depth. You provided insights into the processing of coal to produce gases and liquids that were at the forefront in the 1970’s and 1980’s and still today have special significance as the world grapples with the problem of energy supply, in which coal will continue to play a major role. Similarly, your work on active sites in carbon reactions set the scene for much of the work that has followed.

As a senior member of the Combustion Institute, you have given your time and your wise counsel to promoting the interests of the Institute and the community it represents, including being a Board Member from 1994-2006. You have been accorded every scientific honour and responsibility that our Institute can bestow:
- Symposium Program Chair, 19th Symposium, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel in 1982. - Silver Medal, at the 20th Symposium, University of Michigan (1984), for the paper with Jim Bittner entitled “Mechanisms of hydrocarbon decay in fuel-rich secondary reaction zones.” - Bernard Lewis Gold Medal, at the 24th Symposium, University of Sydney “for the kinetics of soot formation and coal pyrolysis”. - Symposium plenary lecture: 23rd Symposium, University of Orléans, France (1992) “Carbon additions and oxidation reactions in heterogeneous combustion and soot formation”.

You are one of the greats of modern combustion research. Your contributions have been immense and the legacy of your work will endure for many years. We are indebted to you.

I wish you all the best today on the occasion of your 70th birthday. While I am sure you will be spending the day quietly with your fantastic family, I know I speak for many in the combustion community when I
bsh signatureemphasise how much we have to celebrate on this occasion. Our thoughts are with you and Carolyn, Courtenay and Jonathon.



Yours sincerely



Brian S. Haynes
President