Daniels, Raymond

As an Emeritus Professor this statement is a capsule review of my research interests and professional activities over a period of years, not a listing of current activities and future plans. My professional career spans a period of about forty-five years, of which, almost forty years were as an engineering faculty member at the University of Oklahoma. Looking back, I fully appreciate the numerous opportunities the University provided for richly varied experiences in teaching, research, and administration.

Of my research interests, the first and a continuing interest is that of hydrogen in metals. It started with my dissertation research at Case on hydrogen embrittlement in titanium alloys¹. At OU I received AEC (and later DOE) support for studies of hydrogen embrittlement of niobium (columbium) ^2,3. NASA supported our studies of hydrogen in aluminum, hydrogen introduced into the metal by proton irradiation as might occur in solar flares ⁴. This work included some interesting studies of proton penetration as a function of surface orientation in aluminum single crystals⁵.

Corrosion became a major interest after I came to the University of Oklahoma. I was first exposed to the field in work for the Air Force on corrosion-fatigue of aluminum alloys⁶, and through a course in corrosion control that I was asked to teach in my second year on the faculty⁷. I became further involved after joining the program planning committee for the annual University of Oklahoma Corrosion Control Course, a short course primarily serving the petroleum and gas industries. I served on the committee for over thirty years, ten years as its chairman, and I regularly lectured at the course⁸. This experience brought me in contact with many professionals concerned with corrosion control, and I soon became active in NACE International.

Throughout my career I have been involved in analyses of metal failures, both in a consulting capacity and in contract studies, particularly for the Air Force. Our Failure Analysis Group at OU worked under contract for the Air Force for a number of years, studying failure problems in aircraft systems, problems often involving corrosion, fatigue, and defects leading to fracture^9,10.

In 1968 I was awarded a National Science Foundation, Science Faculty Fellowship for study and research at the Institute for Structural Metallurgy at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The 15 months we lived in Switzerland was a wonderful family experience as well as a rewarding professional experience.

For a faculty member, a university can involve more than research and instruction. At OU I served in a number administrative positions over the years. I was the first Director of the School Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, the school formed by merger of the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Metallurgical Engineering in 1963. In 1971 I was appointed Executive Director of the University of Oklahoma Research Institute (OURI) and, shortly thereafter, Director of the newly established Office of Research Administration. My experience in research administration gave me new perspectives on the inevitable tensions between faculty researchers and university administrations. NSF funding through the Research Management Improvement (RMI) Program enabled us to join with several other universities in a study of research administration in public universities, administration utilizing separately incorporated institutes and foundations ¹¹.

My introduction to international engineering education occurred in 1991 when I was visited by faculty from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. They were interested in working with us to develop graduate programs in petrochemical technology and polymer science in which instruction would be in the English language. They wanted to prepare Thai engineers to work and compete effectively in an international environment. Joined by the University of Michigan and Case Western Reserve University, we were awarded an Agency for International Development (USAID), University Development Linkages Project (UDLP) grant to help develop programs in the Petroleum and Petrochemical College at Chulalongkorn University. I served as the first project director. The graduate program is ongoing and has been judged one of the more successful linkages projects initially funded by the USAID. The project has been so successful that I was invited to make a presentation about the project to the meeting of the President’s Committee Advising on Science and Technology (PCAST), Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), in September 2000¹².

1. "Hydrogen Embrittlement and Delayed Failure in Titanium Alloys," with R. J. Quigg and A. R. Troiano, Trans. ASM, 51, 843-850 (1959)

2. "Influence of Hydrogen on Tensile Properties of Columbium (Niobium)" with T. W. Wood, Trans. Met. Soc., AIME, 233, 898-903 (1965)

3. "The Ductile-Brittle-Ductile Transition in Columbium-Hydrogen (Niobium-Hydrogen)Alloys," with T. G. Oakwood, Trans. Met. Soc. AIME, 242, 1327-1333 (1968)

4. "Orientation Dependence of Pitting and Blistering in Proton-Irradiated Aluminum Crystals," with L. H. Milacek, J. Appl. Phys., 39, 5714-5717 (1968)

5. "Correlation of Hydrogen Evolution with Surface Blistering in Proton Irradiated Aluminum," J. Appl. Phys., 42, 417-419 (1971)

6. "Corrosion-Fatigue of High Strength Aluminum Alloys," with W. M. Lorkovic and D. Varallyay, Materials Protection, 3, 16-23 (1964)

7. "Corrosion Control Course at the University of Oklahoma" with C. E. Locke, Jour. Chem. Engr. Educ., 7, 164-166 (1973)

8. "Basic Metallurgical Considerations in Corrosion Control," Proceedings Oklahoma Corrosion Control Course, NACE International, Houston (1970)

9. "Corrosion Problems in Aircraft Components - Case Studies of Failures," with W. R. Coleman and R. J. Block, Proceedings, 1980 Tri-Service Conference on Corrosion, AFWAL Publ. TR-81-4019, Volume II, 241-270, (1981)

10. "Stress Corrosion Cracking of 4340 Steel in Aircraft Ignition Starter Residues," with K. J. Kennelley, Corrosion Cracking, V. S. Goel, Editor, 199-204, American Society for Metals, Metals Park (1986)

11. University-Connected Research Foundations, co-authored with R. C. Martin, L. Eisenberg, J. M. Lewallen, and R. A. Wright, published by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman (1977)

12. “An International Academic Partnership – Academic Programs in Petrochemical Technology and Polymer Science at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand,” Meeting of President’s Committee Advising on Science and Technology, OSTP, Washington, DC (September 2000)

Former CBME faculty member Raymond Daniels passed away in Reno, Nevada on May 8^th.  Professor Daniels was a true gentleman, good-natured with a cheerful smile.  Many will remember seeing him in the hallways with a bow tie and a pocket protector looking very professorial!  His background in metallurgy and physics contributed to research and teaching in materials science for CBME.  For years, he and his students worked with support from Tinker Air Force Base on issues associated with rapid startup of jet engines on B52 bombers. 

An effective and capable administrator for the University, Ray served as the Director of the Office of Research Administration and also as Director of CBME(or CEMS as it was known at the time).   His sound leadership and fiscal management proved very valuable to the unit and seemingly at odds with the fact that he and his wife Libby liked to visit the casinos!  However Ray knew the margins for the house and counted his losses as the cost of entertainment.  Working through the Agency for International Development, Professor Daniels led an effort by OU, the University of Michigan and Case Western Reserve University to establish a graduate program in Petroleum and Petrochemical Engineering at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand.  That effort was so successful it resulted in an invitation from the White House to make a presentation in Washington, DC as a model for similar initiatives.    He was a valued member of CBME who will be greatly missed.  Memorial donations may be made to the OU Foundation (P.O. Box 258856, Oklahoma City, OK 73125) in support of the Ray & Libby Daniels Engineering Scholarship Fund #41063. Obituary PDF