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BY M. M. JOHNSON
Philip M. Arnold, a former vice-president for research and development, Phillips Petroleum Company, died on October 28, 1994, at his home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Mr. Arnold was born in Springfield, Missouri, where he received ...
Mr. Arnold was born in Springfield, Missouri, where he received his early education. He earned his B.S. in chemical engineering in 1932 and his M.S. in 1941 from Washington University in St. Louis. In 1969 Washington University recognized Mr. Arnold as a distinguished graduate and in 1983 awarded him an honorary doctor of science degree. He joined the research department of Phillips in 1937 and became manager of research and development in 1950 and vice- president in 1964. He held this position until his retirement in 1976.
Mr. Arnold played a pivotal role in Phillips's entry into petrochemicals, leading first the research effort and later the management teams that made Phillips a major producer of synthetic rubber, polyolefin plastics and fibers, engineering polymers, fertilizers, and a host of other products and processes associated with petrochemicals and petroleum refining. For his leadership in research related to treatment of natural gas and gas liquids, he received the Hanlon Award from the Gas Processors Association in 1975. He was the author of a text on hydrofluoric acid alkylation and held twenty-two U.S. patents.
Mr. Arnold was an involved member of a number of technical organizations, actively attending and participating in local sections of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers until his retirement. At the national level, he represented Phillips in the American Petroleum Institute, American Society for Testing and Materials, Coordinating Research Council, Directors of Industrial Research, and the Industrial Research Institute, serving as a director, vice-president, and president (1964 to 1965) of the latter organization. At the international level, he was chairman of the finance committee and the executive committee of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), and was a member of the permanent and executive councils of the World Petroleum Congresses, serving as vice-chairman of the U.S. National Committee from 1965 to 1971.
Mr. Arnold was active with the National Research Council as a member at large of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Technology from 1959 to 1965, as the ACS representative from 1965 to 1968, and as a member of the executive committee from 1961 to 1965. He was also a member of the U.S. National Committee for IUPAC from 1961 to 1970, serving that committee as its chairman from 1964 to 1968. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 1970 and served on the Division of Engineering, Committees on Pollution Abatement Control, Ad Hoc Panel on Abatement of Sulfur Oxide Emissions from Industrial Sources (1970 to 1971) and the Panel for Engineering Unemployment in 1971 and 1972.
Always a scholar and an effective advocate for science and technology, Phil will be remembered and missed for his leadership, insight, and openness with his coworkers at Phillips and the members of the NAE.