Douglas Morris Ruthven

Dr. Douglas Morris Ruthven passed away on September 23, 2021 at the age of eighty-two. Doug was born in Ernakulum, India, on October 9, 1938, to Joseph and Beryl Ruthven.

There is a framed poster on the wall in Doug Ruthven’s office from a 2017 ceremony honoring the Department of Engineering’s emeritus faculty at the University of Maine. There’s a headshot of each honoree, their department title, and a nickname. Some are serious, some are silly, and Doug’s nickname was “Global Legend.” While in some ways, that was probably done with tongue firmly planted in cheek, as were many stories from that day, there was absolutely no denying Doug’s impact in his field of science. The calls and emails flooding in from former students and colleagues at the news of his passing testify to his impact outside of academia as well.

Doug was educated at Christ’s Hospital school and at the University of Cambridge. After he

earned his first degree he worked in industry for two years but realized that he wanted to study further,

and he earned a Ph.D from Cambridge in1966.

After completing his Ph.D, he moved to Canada, to take a position as a professor of chemical engineering at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. While there, he met his lifelong wife, Patricia. He loved the unspoilt New Brunswick countryside, and took up skiing with his accustomed enthusiasm. He spent six fun-filled years as “don” of Jones House in the UNB Residence system enjoying the company of exuberant undergraduate students and the enduring friendships of lively colleagues.

Doug is considered one of the world’s preeminent experts on adsorption, a topic only chemical engineers understand. In 1984, he published Principles of Adsorption and Adsorption Processes, a book which has become a scientific classic that is still cited by scholars over thirty-five years later. Before his death he was working on a second edition in collaboration with Stefano Brandani. In 1988, the University of Cambridge awarded him a Doctor of Science degree for “distinction by some original contribution to the advancement of science or learning”. In 1989 Doug was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He was awarded the prestigious Max Planck Research Award in 1993 along with his longtime collaborator and friend Jörg Kärger. He was a Professor Emeritus at both the University of Maine and at UNB. In 1999 the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering recognized him as one of the top twenty achievers in Chemical Engineering in the Twentieth Century.

Doug and Pat migrated southwards to Old Town, after Doug left the University of New Brunswick to begin a new position as Chair of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Maine. Although he stepped down as chair in 2003, Doug continued to teach at UMaine in some capacity until 2018 and was continuing his consulting and publication work in 2021.

His first sabbatical was to the University of Queensland, Australia in 1972 where rumor has it that Doug purchased a car (the Green Bean) for $100, drove it across the country and ultimately resold it in Darwin for $150. From Darwin they travelled across Timor L’Este and Indonesia to Singapore, which gave him a taste for far eastern travel and Asian food.

In 1975 Pat and Doug welcomed Fiona Beryl into the world. With Fiona in tow, they enjoyed sabbaticals in Singapore in the 1980s. They continued to travel the world for many years, with extended stays in Germany and Thailand, river cruises in Europe and Myanmar, nearly annual visits to their timeshare on Maui, and regular trips back to England to visit family who were always dear to his heart.

Doug enjoyed watching PBS News Hour at unimaginable volumes with Pat, making gin and tonics, and not spending money. “Use what you have got, and you shall never want,” was one of his favorite sayings. He was the embodiment of the unofficial Ruthven motto, “No unnecessary repairs.” But when visitors arrived at their Old Town home Doug would often emerge from their garage where he had been working on more exigent car repair. He was particularly fond of cross-country skiing and hiking and enjoyed the outdoors every day. Hiking was a pleasure he shared with his daughter who would take Doug all over Maine for a hike up a mountain or hill for a good view every time she visited.

No single obituary can measure the impact Doug had on his students, colleagues, or family over the course of his life. His impact was both large and small. From scrounging up a makeshift chemistry set for a younger brother, to offering up time and advice to promising students who went on to their own successful careers in academia and industry, or even to shocking students at the top of Mt. Katahdin thinking he was drinking straight gin rather than water out of an old gin bottle, everyone has a “larger-than-life story” story about Doug. Rarely does that description, “larger-than-life” fit someone, but it fits Doug. He was a giant as an academic, and not just in the field of adsorption. One might say that Global Legend nickname was more apt than it was humorous.

Doug will be missed by everyone who was touched by his life in his eighty-two years.

Doug is survived by his wife Patricia, daughter Fiona, sister Elizabeth and brothers David and Robert, along with their children in England, and friends around the world, who will all miss him dearly.

Gifts in memory of Dr. Ruthven may be made at umainefoundation.org/memorial for a fund for the Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Department. Contributions may be mailed to the UMaine Foundation, Two Alumni Place, Orono, ME 04469-5792, or to the University of New Brunswick PO Box 4400, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3 for the benefit of the Alan David Bell Memorial Scholarship.