Edward McLaughlin

Edward (Eamon) McLaughlin, Dean Emeritus of LSU's College of Engineering, died on January 21 in Gulf Breeze, FL, at the age of 94. He was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Aine McLaughlin (née Friel) and his son Donagh. He is survived by three children and their families: Fiona McLaughlin and her husband Leonardo Villalón, children Cheikh, Ignacio, and Monica; son Declan McLaughlin; daughter Bronagh Nowak and her husband Peter Nowak, children Millicent, John, and Elizabeth; and great-grandchildren Beckett, Jamil, and Kaden. He is also survived by one brother, Patrick McLaughlin of Ballycastle, Northern Ireland. He was predeceased by 13 other siblings. The family will receive guests at a visitation at Rabenhorst East Funeral Home from 5 to 7 PM on Friday 27 January. A mass of remembrance will be celebrated at St Thomas More Catholic Church at 10 AM on Saturday 28 January. He will be buried beside his wife and son in a private service at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in St Francisville. Eamon was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland on October 16, 1928, to Patrick Joseph McLaughlin and Helena Leonard. Among the youngest in his large family, Eamon proved to be a good student, and often recounted how as a boy he would go down to the "poor house" to help illiterate people write letters to stay in touch with relatives working abroad. He was encouraged by his older sister, Mairead, a school teacher, to apply for a scholarship, setting him on a path to an academic career. After studies at Ballymena Academy and St. Malachy's College Belfast, he went on to earn degrees from Queen's University Belfast. His professional career began at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, England, where he completed his PhD and received the Diploma of Imperial College (DIC), and where he was subsequently invited to join the faculty. He was later appointed Reader in the Chemical Physics of Fluids and Assistant Director of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology at the University of London. In 1967-68 he was a National Science Foundation Senior Visiting Foreign Scientist in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Louisiana State University and, at the urging of Dr. Jesse Coates, in 1970 he immigrated to Baton Rouge with his young family to accept a faculty position at LSU. In 1979 he became Chairman of the Department of Chemical Engineering, and then in 1987 was appointed Dean of the College of Engineering. He retired as Dean Emeritus in 1997. Eamon was a strong supporter of industry and its association with academia. He was proud of his work with the Ethyl Corporation and its outstanding group of innovative chemical engineers and chemists led by Dr. M.F. (Bim) Gautreau. He also served on the National Academic Advisory Committee of the Industrial Research Institute and as an advisor to the US Federal Court system. Eamon made many lasting contributions as an academic leader. As Chair of LSU's Chemical Engineering Department he worked hard to establish titled professorships for faculty, beginning with professorships in honor of founding department members Drs. Paul Horton and Jesse Coates. Other professorships followed with the generous support of alumni, the first of which was instituted by Clarence M. Eidt (BS 1956). He continued to expand the program as Dean of the college, and his model was later adopted by the whole university and other Louisiana state schools. Faced with a need to find a way to modernize engineering labs and update instrumentation and equipment, he worked with student leaders in engineering who voluntarily accepted to impose a technology fee each semester, to fund projects which the students would themselves approve. Similar programs were later adopted by other university units. In recognition of his many contributions, the College Academic Advisory Committee established the Edward McLaughlin Professorship for Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction, and on his retirement they endowed the Edward McLaughlin Dean's Medal to recognize top engineering graduates. He always insisted that these distinctions were not his alone, but a recognition of the collective efforts of a dedicated group of department chairs, institute directors, and an outstanding staff, including Carol Carney, and Joy Shurr who remained a lifelong friend. Over the course of his career Eamon took great pride in his former graduate students working in both industry and academia in various parts of the world. He greatly appreciated the international reach of his research and publications, and his collaborations with scholars from Ireland, England, Germany, Poland, Turkey, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, China, South Korea, Australia, the United States and Canada. As an advisor to the US federal court system, he worked with Judge Frank Polozola in remediating a major hazardous waste site. The experience motivated him to start a degree program in Environmental Engineering at LSU. Eamon was a lifelong collector of old scientific instruments. He was a lover of nature, especially the Louisiana countryside, and a keen observer of the changing seasons. He took great pleasure in working on his farm, Cliffwood East, in the Tunica Hills of West Feliciana parish, alongside good neighbors, especially Edward Percy and Larry Varnado. He was fortunate and grateful to have Ric and Andrea Simmons as next-door neighbors in Baton Rouge. His family will remember him for his sharp intellect and his subtle wit, and for his devotion to his wife, Aine, and how he cared for her in her last years. We will also remember his love for Irish songs and poetry and the way he would spontaneously burst into verse. We will miss hearing his voice and his Ballymena accent as he told stories of his younger years in Ireland, and the way he never missed an opportunity to sing Irish songs in full character. Eamon was a devout lifelong Catholic and contributed to St. Thomas More parish until his death. He loved hearing Aine sing in the church choir, and he enjoyed singing along loudly with her at the grandparents' mass. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to a charity of your choice, or to the LSU College of Engineering Scholarship fund or the Edward McLaughlin Professorship.