Nai Yuen Chen

Nai Yuen Chen, Sc.D., of Arlington, TX, formerly of Titusville, NJ, died on Thursday, March 30, 2017 at the age of 91. Dr. Chen was born in China on January 6, 1926 to pioneering microbiologist Tao Sheng Chen and his wife Tong Tze Lin. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Shanghai, after which he worked at the Taiwan Sugar Corporation from 1947-52. In 1952, he came to the U.S. and earned a Master’s degree in chemical engineering from Louisiana State University in 1954. He completed his Doctorate in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1959. That same year he married Margaret Ren-Sun Chien. He was a Research Associate at MIT for one year before joining Mobil Oil Corporation in 1960. He rose up the ranks to Senior Scientist and Manager by 1979. He retired from Mobil in 1993, but continued as a Technical Consultant until 2007. He was a Visiting Professor with the National University of Singapore in 1993 and a Distinguished Research Professor with the University of Texas at Arlington since 2011. He was the inventor or co-inventor on 126 U.S. patents for novel catalysts, oil refining, and petrochemical and biomass processes. He also authored or co-authored 73 papers in technical journals, two technical books, and 8 book chapters. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1990 for his discovery of commercially important shape-selective catalytic processes for producing premium fuels and lubricants.

He was preceded in death by his wife in 2008. He is survived by his brother, Nai Yong Chen, and sister, Yu Mei Chen, two daughters and sons-in-law, Nancy & Stephen Cavanaugh and Victoria Chen & Jeffrey Guild, and two grandsons, Aiden & Broderick Guild. He was an avid sports fan and enjoyed watching his grandsons play baseball and compete in gymnastics. His influence, strength and kindness touched many family members, friends, and colleagues, and he will be greatly missed.

In lieu of flowers a memorial can be made to the American Diabetes Association http://www.diabetes.org/