Richard A. Swalin

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Swalin, Richard A. Richard `Dick´ Swalin of Boise, Idaho passed away on January 9, 2015. Born in Minneapolis, MN in 1929, Richard received a B.S. in Metallurgy in 1951 and a Ph.D. in Metallurgical and Electrical Engineering in 1954 from the University of Minnesota. An accomplished scientist and scientific manager, Richard began his academic career as an assistant professor in the Metallurgy Department at the U of M. A prolific author, he published The Thermodynamics of Solids in 1962. He was named Acting Head (1962) and then Head of the School of Mineral and Metallurgical Engineering (1963). He became the Associate Dean of the Institute of Technology in 1968. In 1971, he was the Dean. Richard left academia in 1977, when he joined Eltra as Vice President of Technology. In 1980, he was named Vice President of Research and Technology at Allied. Richard returned to academia in 1984 as Dean of the School of Mines at the University of Arizona. He later became the Dean of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering there. He also served on the Board of Directors of Medtronic and BMC. Richard loved dogs, the outdoors, sailing and fishing. An avid skier, he was inducted into the Million Mile Club in Jackson Hole. He was also a member of the Minneapolis Club and Phi Delta Theta. Richard is survived by daughters, Kristin (Kyriacos) Panayiotou, Karen Swalin (Stefan Linz); daughter-in-law, Mary Lou Hill; and five loving grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Helen; and his son, Kent. Memorial donations may be made to the Nature Conservancy, the University of Arizona Faculty Women´s Club Helen Swalin Scholarship Fund or the College of Science and Engineering Alumni Scholarship fund at the University of Minnesota.

Published on January 18, 2015