Schmidt, Lanny D. Age 81, Regents Professor Emeritus of the University of Minnesota, passed away on March 27, 2020 with his wife by his side. He was born on May 6, 1938 in Waukegan, Illinois. In addition to Charlotte (Sherry) his wife of 58 years, Lanny is survived by his daughters, Diana (Chris) Kitzman, Amanda (Pete) Docter; sister Julie (Alan) Cunningham; and four grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at Hope Church of Richfield when larger gatherings are permitted. Lanny received his B.S. in chemistry from Wheaton College in 1960 and Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1964. He joined the University in 1965 and served on the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science faculty for 49 years. He was a beloved faculty member and supervised approximately 90 Ph.D. and 15 Masters students. Schmidt was well known for his extensive work in surface science, detailed chemistry (microkinetics), chemical reaction engineering, catalysis, and renewable energy. With his students, he published over 350 papers in refereed journals and received numerous awards including the Humboldt Fellowship and membership in the National Academy of Engineering. He authored the textbook, The Engineering of Chemical Reactions. One of his major contributions was in the conversion of biomass to fuel cells. This discovery led to Lanny's being named by Scientific American Magazine as one of the fifty most outstanding American scientists in 2014. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (University of Minnesota), Wheaton College (IL), Hope Church of Richfield Building Fund, or charity of donor's choice.

Published on April 14, 2020