Some of the world’s foremost experts in thermophysical properties and thermodynamics gathered at Texas A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq) to celebrate the 49-year career of Dr Kenneth “Ken” R Hall, who will retire from Texas A&M on January 1.
Dr Hall, who came to Tamuq in 2011 as associate dean for research and graduate studies, was instrumental in establishing and growing the branch campus’ research programme and master’s degree programme.
Since 2012 he is the director of Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Division at Tamuq. Dr Hall, who started his career in 1967 as an assistant professor at University of Virginia’s Department of Chemical Engineering, began his stint at Tamu in 1974 as an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at College Station, Texas, US.
The daylong conference at Tamuq featured 13 speakers from prestigious institutions around the world, including the Georgia Institute of Technology, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, Dow Chemical Co., the University of California, Berkeley, and Qatar University, as well as universities in Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Germany and Finland.
“This celebration is a genuine and deeply appreciated honour for me,” Dr Hall said. “I am proud to have had the opportunity to call each of these speakers my friend professionally and personally, and I sincerely thank those who made presentations at this event.”
Dr Mark H Weichold, dean and CEO, Tamuq, described Hall as a pioneer, a teacher, a mentor and a friend, and spoke of his commitment, integrity, loyalty and service.
“Texas A&M has been very fortunate to have somebody of his stature here at the branch campus in Qatar,” Weichold said. “He and I were part of the group that came to Doha on that very first visit, so his roots in Texas A&M at Qatar go back to the very first days. It has really been valuable to me to have him here with all of his experience, but especially with his knowledge of how we came to be here as a branch campus.
Dr Hall earned his BS at the University of Tulsa, his MS at the University of California, Berkeley, and his PhD at the University of Oklahoma. He is a well-known educator and has mentored 24 master’s students and 34 PhDs.
Dr Hall is also an effective administrator, having held a variety of leadership positions at Texas A&M, including head of chemical engineering, associate dean of engineering, associate vice chancellor for engineering of The Texas A&M University System, and deputy director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station.