# Robert C. Reid
Robert Clark Reid (1924–2006) was an American chemical engineer, professor emeritus at the [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](https://www.edgepedia.org/massachusetts-institute-of-technology) (MIT), and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.[1](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50050926.html) • [2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607) He is best known as co-author of *The Properties of Gases and Liquids*, a properties-estimation handbook published across four editions from 1958 to 1987, and as editor of the AIChE Journal.[3](https://ci.nii.ac.jp/author/DA00573652) • [2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name, dates | Robert Clark Reid; born June 11, 1924, in Denver, Colorado; died May 18, 2006, aged 81[1](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50050926.html) • [2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607) |
| Institution | MIT chemical engineering faculty, 1951–1985 (34 years)[2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607) • [4](https://www.biographies.net/biography/robert-reid/m/03c2gls) |
| Education | BS marine engineering (US Merchant Marine Academy); BS and MS chemical engineering (Purdue); ScD chemical engineering (MIT)[2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607) |
| Best-known book | *The Properties of Gases and Liquids*, editions 1958, 1966, 1977, 1987/88[3](https://ci.nii.ac.jp/author/DA00573652) • [1](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50050926.html) |
| Academy | National Academy of Engineering, member[2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607) |
| Professional service | AIChE director 1969–1971; AIChE Journal editor[2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607) • [4](https://www.biographies.net/biography/robert-reid/m/03c2gls) |
| Fields | Chemical engineering; thermodynamics[1](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50050926.html) |
## Education and career path
Reid began his engineering career at sea. He served in the Merchant Marine during World War II aboard an oil tanker, then earned a bachelor's degree in marine engineering from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.[2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607) • [4](https://www.biographies.net/biography/robert-reid/m/03c2gls) He added a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and a master's degree from [Purdue University](https://www.edgepedia.org/purdue-university), and completed the Sc.D. at MIT; the Purdue master's and the MIT doctorate were both in chemical engineering.[2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607)
He joined the MIT faculty in 1951 and retired in 1985 after 34 years at the Institute.[2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607)
## The Properties of Gases and Liquids and other books
The first edition of *The Properties of Gases and Liquids* appeared in 1958, and it is the work by which the Library of Congress ties the authorized heading "Reid, Robert C., 1924-2006" to this subject.[1](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50050926.html) Authorship evolved over successive editions: Reid and Thomas K. Sherwood produced the second (McGraw-Hill, 1966), Reid, John M. Prausnitz, and Sherwood the third (McGraw-Hill, 1977), and Reid, Prausnitz, and Bruce E. Poling the fourth (McGraw-Hill, 1987, copyright 1988).[3](https://ci.nii.ac.jp/author/DA00573652) A Japanese-language edition, *Kitai ekitai no bussei suisan handobukku*, appears in national library records, indicating the handbook's international reach.[5](https://viaf.org/viaf/108383548/)
Reid also co-wrote the textbook *Thermodynamics and Its Applications*, co-authored *Modeling crystal growth rates from solution* with Makoto Ohara (Prentice-Hall, 1973), and authored the 1968 AIChE monograph *Present, past, and future property estimation techniques* (Chemical Engineering Progress monograph series no. 5).[2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607) • [3](https://ci.nii.ac.jp/author/DA00573652)
## Research contributions
One documented research thread concerned superheated liquids. His award lecture, "Superheated Liquids—A Laboratory Curiosity and, Possibly, an Industrial Curse. Part I: Laboratory Studies and Theory," appeared in *Chemical Engineering Education* (Vol. 12, No. 2, April 1978) while he was at MIT.[6](https://journals.flvc.org/cee/article/view/125609) He also contributed to spacecraft engineering: he co-authored the 1970 federal technical report *University role in astronaut life support systems: atmospheres*, issued through the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, on life support systems for the space environment.[7](https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=ha011430961)
## Mentoring and MIT service
His doctoral students included Albert Sacco Jr., who received his MIT PhD in 1977 under Reid's supervision and in fall 1995 completed a 16-day mission as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Columbia. Sacco credited Reid directly: "I owe most of what I've done to Bob Reid... he taught me what it takes to do high-quality work."[8](https://news.mit.edu/1995/here-there2-1213)
Within teaching and department life, Reid was known for dressing as Willard Gibbs, the nineteenth-century American thermodynamicist, for certain lectures. He also pushed to change the MIT chemical engineering department's unofficial policy of hiring only its own graduates.[4](https://www.biographies.net/biography/robert-reid/m/03c2gls)
## Honours and professional service
Reid was a member of the National Academy of Engineering, affiliated with MIT.[2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607) • [1](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50050926.html) In the [American Institute of Chemical Engineers](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-institute-of-chemical-engineers) he served as a director from 1969 to 1971 and edited the AIChE Journal.[2](https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607) • [4](https://www.biographies.net/biography/robert-reid/m/03c2gls)
## References
1. Reid, Robert C., 1924-2006 — Library of Congress Name Authority File. https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50050926.html
2. Professor Robert C. Reid dies at 81 | MIT News. https://news.mit.edu/2006/obit-reid-0607
3. CiNii Books author — Reid, Robert C. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/author/DA00573652
4. Biography of Robert Reid. https://www.biographies.net/biography/robert-reid/m/03c2gls
5. VIAF — Robert Reid (n50050926). https://viaf.org/viaf/108383548/
6. Award Lecture: Superheated Liquids (Chemical Engineering Education, 1978). https://journals.flvc.org/cee/article/view/125609
7. University role in astronaut life support systems: atmospheres (1970). https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=ha011430961
8. Here and there | MIT News (1995). https://news.mit.edu/1995/here-there2-1213
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Engineers and computer scientists › Engineers and materials scientists › Researchers in chemical engineering, batteries, solar, and energy materials › Chemical engineering fundamentals*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
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