{"id":4124,"date":"2014-10-28T16:51:44","date_gmt":"2014-10-28T20:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/?p=4124"},"modified":"2014-10-28T16:54:58","modified_gmt":"2014-10-28T20:54:58","slug":"in-memoriam-theodore-a-koch-1925-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/awe9a91v\/news\/in-memoriam-theodore-a-koch-1925-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"In Memoriam: Theodore A. Koch (1925\u20132014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Theodore-Koch-204x300\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Theodore A. Koch, 88, a retired DuPont research sci\u00aden\u00adtist passed away peace\u00adfully at his home in Wilm\u00ading\u00adton, Delaware on Sep\u00adtem\u00adber 13, 2014.<\/p>\n

A native of upstate New York, Koch stud\u00adied chem\u00adistry at St. Michael\u2019s Col\u00adlege in Burling\u00adton, VT and the Uni\u00adver\u00adsity of Penn\u00adsyl\u00adva\u00adnia in Philadel\u00adphia, PA, earn\u00ading his Ph.D. in chem\u00adistry in 1952. He joined the DuPont Co. ulti\u00admately retir\u00ading from its Nylon busi\u00adness unit as a DuPont Fel\u00adlow after 48 years of ser\u00advice. An author\u00adity on het\u00adero\u00adge\u00adneous cat\u00ada\u00adlysts, Koch spent his entire career devel\u00adop\u00ading chem\u00adi\u00adcal process\u00ades and bring\u00ading them from the bench\u00adtop to com\u00admer\u00adcial\u00adiza\u00adtion with marked cre\u00adativ\u00adity and tenac\u00adi\u00adty.<\/p>\n

Notable tech\u00adni\u00adcal accom\u00adplish\u00adments in Koch\u2019s career includ\u00aded devel\u00adop\u00ading a new cat\u00ada\u00adlyst for nitrous oxide destruc\u00adtion (an ozone-deple\u00adtion byprod\u00aduct from Nylon man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adture), devel\u00adop\u00adment of a new process for hydro\u00adgen cyanide man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adture and improve\u00adments to many poly\u00admer inter\u00adme\u00addi\u00adates process\u00ades. Koch received the award for Excel\u00adlence in Cat\u00adalytic Sci\u00adence and Tech\u00adnol\u00adogy from the Catal\u00ady\u00adsis Club of Philadel\u00adphia in 1994 and the Lavoisi\u00ader Medal for Tech\u00adni\u00adcal Excel\u00adlence from the DuPont Co. in 1998. His exter\u00adnal roles includ\u00aded adjunct Pro\u00adfes\u00adsor of Chem\u00adi\u00adcal Engi\u00adneer\u00ading at the Uni\u00adver\u00adsity of Delaware; pres\u00adi\u00addent of the Catal\u00ady\u00adsis Club of Philadel\u00adphia; and mem\u00adber\u00adship in the North Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Catal\u00ady\u00adsis Soci\u00adety, the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Insti\u00adtute of Chem\u00adi\u00adcal Engi\u00adneers, the Organ\u00adic Reac\u00adtions Catal\u00ady\u00adsis Soci\u00adety, and the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Chem\u00adi\u00adcal Soci\u00adety. He held 29 patents and co-authored 18 jour\u00adnal arti\u00adcles and one text\u00adbook on catal\u00ady\u00adsis enti\u00adtled, \u201cCat\u00ada\u00adlyst Man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koch is sur\u00advived by his wife of 62 years, Anne, his five chil\u00addren, five grand\u00adchil\u00addren and extend\u00aded fam\u00adily. His mem\u00adory lives on through the Theodore A. Koch Fund that will rec\u00adog\u00adnize and reward Delaware Val\u00adley achieve\u00adments in catal\u00ady\u00adsis research. Char\u00adi\u00adta\u00adble dona\u00adtions may be made to the Catal\u00ady\u00adsis Club of Philadel\u00adphia, Ted Koch Fund, c\/o Stephen Har\u00adris, Trea\u00adsurer, Ren\u00admatix, 660 Allen\u00addale Road, King of Prus\u00adsia, PA 19406.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Theodore A. Koch, 88, a retired DuPont research sci\u00aden\u00adtist passed away peace\u00adfully at his home in Wilm\u00ading\u00adton, Delaware on Sep\u00adtem\u00adber 13, 2014. A native of upstate New York, Koch stud\u00adied chem\u00adistry at St. Michael\u2019s Col\u00adlege in Burling\u00adton, VT and the Uni\u00adver\u00adsity of Penn\u00adsyl\u00adva\u00adnia in Philadel\u00adphia, PA, earn\u00ading his Ph.D. in chem\u00adistry in 1952. He [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/awe9a91v\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/awe9a91v\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/awe9a91v\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/awe9a91v\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/awe9a91v\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4124"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/awe9a91v\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4128,"href":"https:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/awe9a91v\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124\/revisions\/4128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/awe9a91v\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/awe9a91v\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catalysisclubphilly.org\/awe9a91v\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}