{"62144":{"#nid":"62144","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Remembering Alum and Regents\u0027 Professor Emeritus, Clyde Orr, Jr., PhD ChE \u002752","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EClyde Orr,  Jr., PhD ChE \u002752, chairman of the board of Micromeritics \nInstrument Corporation, passed away  on September 15, 2010, at the age \nof 88. He died from complications of  blood clots at St. Joseph\u0027s \nHospital.\n        \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince  cofounding Micromeritics with Warren P. Hendrix in \n1962, Dr. Orr was instrumental in guiding the company to its industry \nleadership role as a  developer of instrumentation for the physical \ncharacterization of materials. A  highly respected scientist who made \nmany contributions to the fields of  materials science and particle \ntechnology, Dr. Orr was involved in designing  instrumentation and \nproviding a constant stream of new ideas and analytical  instruments.\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n          \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n          After  serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Dr. Orr \nearned his master\u2019s degree in chemical engineering from the University \nof Tennessee in 1948, and  entered Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s \nPh.D. program for chemical engineers.  His advisor, Joseph DallaValle, \nhad earned a reputation as an expert in  particulate matter, having \nauthored one of the definitive works on the subject, \u003Cem\u003EMicromeritics:  the Technology of Fine Particles\u003C\/em\u003E.\n Upon completing the doctoral  program in 1952, Dr. Orr was hired as an \nassistant research professor and  remained a faculty member for thirty \nyears. During his tenure at Georgia Tech,  he was named a Regents\u2019 \nProfessor and was awarded the status of emeritus professor  upon his \nretirement in the early 1980s.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n  \u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n          In 1958, Dr. Orr and a member of his research team, Warren \nHendrix, began  designing a new gas adsorption analyzer that would \nimprove on the system  currently used in the Georgia Tech Micromeritics \nLaboratory. They invented a  better way to measure the total area of the\n tiny surfaces on things like  particles of flour and beads of plastic. \nTheir device used a metal case and  gauges instead of a blown-glass \ncontainer and mercury-filled tubes. The fall  1999 edition of Georgia \nTech\u2019s \u003Cem\u003EResearch  Horizon\u2019s Magazine\u003C\/em\u003E listed their research project among the most  significant Georgia Tech contributions of the 20th Century.\u003C\/p\u003E\n        \u003Cp\u003EDr. Orr\u2019s and Mr. Hendrix\u2019s research  efforts eventually led \nto a patented instrument that became the basis for  starting \nMicromeritics Instrument Corporation. Manufacturing started in  Mr. \nHendrix\u2019s basement, and then moved into his garage, and finally to the  \nNorcross plant, near Jimmy Carter Boulevard. At the time, the county had\n no  other high-tech outfit. Micrometics is credited with  starting \nGwinnett County\u0027s high-tech industry boom. \u003C\/p\u003E\n        \u003Cp\u003EToday, the company\u2019s headquarters  sits off Beaver Ruin Road,\n a local employer of about 200. The privately-held  company\u2019s annual \nsales top $50 million and it operates global offices in  Germany, \nFrance, Italy, Japan, China, and the UK. Micromeritics was the first \ncompany to market  commercially automated instrumentation for surface \narea and porosimetry by gas  sorption, mercury intrusion porosimetry, \nvolume and density by gas  displacement, chemisorption analyses, and \nx-ray sedimentation particle size. The  company holds numerous patents \nin these combined areas of particle  characterization. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n          \u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n          Dr. Orr published 62 works in 89 publications in 5 languages. One of his  several books, \u003Cem\u003EParticulate  Technology\u003C\/em\u003E\n (1966), became a definitive work in the area of particle  technology. \nThe reference section of modern text books and research  papers on \nparticle  technology lists Clyde Orr as one of the  pioneers whose \nresearch was built upon in the development of the current work.  \u003C\/p\u003E\n        \u003Cp\u003EIn 1995, Dr. Orr was inducted into the Georgia Tech College \nof Engineering\u2019s Hall of  Fame during the second year the honor was \navailable. Those who  knew Dr. Orr best say that he was an inquisitive, \nyet humble, man who  asked that his family keep quite when he was tapped\n for this honor. \u003C\/p\u003E\n        \u003Cp\u003EDr. Orr   continued to work daily as company board chairman of Micromeritics.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen reflecting  on the business relationship between his father and \nMr. Hendrix, Dr. Orr\u2019s son,  Donald Orr, said, \u201cIt was a remarkable \ncombination of two men. Neither would  have done it without the other, \nbut together they did.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n        \u003Cp\u003EDr. Orr\u0027s  daughter, Jeanne Thomas serves as executive vice \npresident of Micromeritics.  A grandson, Danny Strickland, is a project \nengineer, and a son-in-law, Bob  Strickland, is an IT contract manager. \nOther survivors include another son,  Douglas Orr, another daughter, \nLynne Strickland, and four grandchildren. Dr. Orr was preceded in death \nby his wife, Mary Gardner Orr.      \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EClyde Orr,  Jr., PhD ChE \u002752, chairman of the board of Micromeritics \nInstrument Corporation, passed away  on September 15, 2010, at the age \nof 88. He died from complications of  blood clots at St. Joseph\u0027s \nHospital.\n        Since  cofounding Micromeritics with Warren P. Hendrix in \n1962, Dr. Orr was instrumental in guiding the company to its industry \nleadership role as a  developer of instrumentation for the physical \ncharacterization of materials. A  highly respected scientist who made \nmany contributions to the fields of  materials science and particle \ntechnology, Dr. Orr was involved in designing  instrumentation and \nproviding a constant stream of new ideas and analytical  instruments.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Clyde Orr, Jr., PhD ChE \u002752, chairman of the board of Micromeritics Instrument Corporation, passed away on September 15, 2010, at the age of 88."}],"uid":"27255","created_gmt":"2010-10-13 16:53:24","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:34","author":"Josie Giles","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"62145":{"id":"62145","type":"image","title":"Dr. Clyde Orr, Jr.","body":null,"created":"1449176355","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:15","changed":"1475894539","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:19","alt":"Dr. Clyde Orr, Jr.","file":{"fid":"191412","name":"orr.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/orr_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/orr_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":162684,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/orr_0.jpg?itok=Lm9IYa4J"}}},"media_ids":["62145"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemical \u0026 Biomolecular Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.micromeritics.com\/","title":"Micromeritics Instrument Corporation"}],"groups":[{"id":"1240","name":"School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1704","name":"chemical \u0026 biomolecular engineering"},{"id":"560","name":"chemical engineering"},{"id":"10964","name":"Clyde Orr"},{"id":"10966","name":"engineering hall of fame"},{"id":"10965","name":"Micromeritics Instrument Corporation"},{"id":"10177","name":"Regents\u0027 Professor"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJosie G. Giles \u2022 ChBE@GT\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n311 Ferst Drive NW\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, GA 30332-0100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n404.385.2299 \u2022 404.385.0185 fax\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:josie@gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\njosie@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/twitter.com\/GTChBE\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewww.chbe.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/twitter.com\/GTChBE\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/twitter.com\/GTChBE\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/twitter.com\/GTChBE\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["josie@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}