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September 5, 2005 Vol.
77, no. 2F
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| NE Professor and James Fife Chair
in Engineering Donald Olander received his A.B. in chemistry from
Columbia University in 1953, his B.S. in chemical engineering
from Columbia University in 1954, and his Sc.D. in chemical engineering
from MIT in 1958. He joined the engineering faculty at Berkeley
in 1958. His research interests include high-temperature kinetic
and thermodynamic behavior of nuclear reactor fuels and the performance
of degraded nuclear fuels. (Photo credit: Peg Skorpinski)
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Professor
Minute with NE professor Donald Olander
What first inspired
you to go into engineering?
I was hoping to enter the field of chemistry, as a result of the fun
I had with the chemistry set from my parents. In those days, we were
not as safety conscious as we are today, and the set included zinc metal
and sulfuric acid. I poured the latter on the former, which generated
copious quantities of hydrogen gas. The pressure built up to the point
that the glass vessel ruptured and a sizeable piece of glass whistled
past my ear and lodged in the wall behind me. As a result of that near
miss, I decided to switch to a safer profession: chemical engineering.
To date, what has been the most memorable moment in your career?
It was, without a doubt, when I learned that my former students had
gotten together and convinced the editor of the Journal of Nuclear Materials
to produce an issue in my honor. The papers in this issue were authored
either by my former students or my colleagues in the field.
Whom do you most admire?
The person I am in awe of is the late Richard Feynmann. He was so brilliant
that he could open Edward Teller’s classified safe and leave sassy
messages inside.
What movie should every student see?
I would say “Gloomy Sunday.” It’s a fictionalized
version of true events of the late thirties, in which the playing of
a certain song on the piano caused numerous suicides. Sounds like a
downer, but strangely it isn’t.
What is your favorite
place to eat in/around campus?
Bistro Liaison. It has shades of France and French cooking.
If you would like us
to feature your favorite professor, please e-mail his or her name to
engnews@coe.berkeley.edu.
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