Died November 20, 1998
College: Silliman
Widow: Mrs. Peggy Cooney
1070 Inca Drive
Laramie, WY 82072
Children: Eric; Jonathan
Grandchildren: Maya; Camden
After Yale, Dave went with Sid Brooks and Ed Cussler for a graduate degree in chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin. At that time, Wisconsin still had the innocence described in Stegner’s novel Crossing to Safety, but was rethinking the way chemical engineering was organized. The intellectual ferment was exciting. After receiving his doctorate in 1966 under the guidance of the distinguished E. N. Lightfoot and a brief industrial experience at Chevron Research, he began teaching at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, in 1969. There, he wrote a good book on biomedical engineering, grew a huge moustache, and went white water kayaking in the Adirondacks. This experience sparked his love of mountains, which led to his moving to the University of Wyoming in 1981. He climbed 51 of the 55 “fourteeners” – peaks over 14,000 feet – in Colorado.
At the University of Wyoming, in additional to excellent teaching, he wrote a sound text on adsorption design and a charming pamphlet on water purification for campers: how to safely drink wilderness water. He later delved into biomedical work and consulted for a doctor working on charcoal wafers to give children in emergency rooms. Dave wrote two books on uses of activated charcoal for medical purposes.
He died November 20, 1998, and is survived by his wife Peggy, two sons, Eric and Jonathan, and two granddaughters, Maya and Camden.
—by Ed Cussler