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Maurice G. Larian served as a faculty member in the Department
of Chemical Engineering from the 1930s to 1971. Dr. Larian
was born in Armenia and came to the U.S.A. without financial
resources. He worked long hours in his student days, as he
depended on his earnings and scholarships for his support
while studying for his B.S. and M.S. at Iowa State University,
and his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. He was the epitome
of a scholar, a cultured, humble gentleman, a good, but demanding
teacher. His most memorable quality, however, was his sincere
interest in and concern for his students, present and past.
Maurice G. Larian wrote a textbook, Fundamentals of Chemical
Engineering Unit Operations, published by Prentice-Hall
in the Chemical Engineering Series in 1958. An except from
the Preface of the textbook reads:
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"It is said that the purpose of all education
is to train the young to think. The engineer will
be called upon to make decisions which should be sound
and wise both in a technical sense and in terms of
their human objectives. Sound judgement implies an
analytical approach and the constant awareness of
certain physical limitations... To this end, Fundamentals
of Chemical Engineering Operations is written
in an analytical style, without, however, minimizing
the significant role played by the empirical approach
in engineering thinking... While the ultimate aim
of engineering education may be to answer the engineering
problems of what to do and why, the
fact should not be overlooked that the graduating
engineer must know how to do things...The book
is, therefore, written from a somewhat practical viewpoint
and includes references to engineering economics,
illustrated by appropriate examples."
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Although more recent texts have replaced Professor Larian's
text, Michigan State University is proud of the contribution
of Professor Larian's text to the Chemical Engineering profession
during its time of use.
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