He is survived by his two children Patricia Davenport and George Davenport. He is also survived by his two brothers John and Robert.
William was born on December 7, 1936, in the gold mining town of Bralorne, British Columbia, Canada. He grew up primarily in North Vancouver, British Columbia.
He received his first two degrees in Metallurgical Engineering at the University of British Columbia. While working one summer in Trail, BC, he met Margaret Hanington. In 1958, William and Margaret were married in Osoyoos, British Columbia.
After graduating from UBC, he and Margaret moved to Buffalo, NY, where he worked at Linde.
He then moved to London, England, obtaining a Ph.D. from the Royal School of Mines, University of London, and a D.I.C. from Imperial College. While in London, he had his first child, Patricia, in 1964.
He began his teaching career at McGill University in Montreal in 1964, where he rose to full professor and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Engineering. In 1965, he had his second child, George.
He came to the University of Arizona in 1981 as Professor and Head of the Metallurgical Engineering Department, moving into a home on 3rd Street, in the Sam Hughes Historic neighborhood. In 1994, William and Margaret bought and renovated the house next door, where he lived until his passing.
Professor Davenport is best known from his textbook, Extractive Metallurgy of Copper, which is now in its 4th printing in both English and Spanish. In addition, he has published a number of other books: The Iron Blast Furnace, Theory and Practice, which was published in English, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish; Flash Smelting - Analysis, Control and Optimization, which is now in its 2nd printing; and Sulfuric Acid Manufacture - Analysis, Control and Optimization. His last book was Rare Earths Science, Technology, Production and Use.
William was an avid traveler and, along with his wife Margaret, travelled extensively around the world, with numerous trips to Japan, Europe, Africa, Australia, and South America, as well as trips all across Canada and the United States of America. He continued to travel and recently made trips to Paris, France, to meet with his Rare Earths co-authors, and to Toronto, Canada to attend the Metsoc of CIM conference and meet up with old colleagues, friends, and former students.
A memorial service for Bill will be held Wednesday, May 15, 2024, from 10:30 am to 11:30 am at East Lawn Palms Mortuary, 5801 East Grant Road, Tucson, AZ 85712. The service will also be live-streamed.
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