WPI Journal - The Magazine for WPI Alumni

FALL 2014

The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)

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64 Fall 2014 Peter Muto '40 Robert Allen '42 (Sigma Phi Epsilon) Noel Totti '42 (Phi Gamma Delta) Richard Walsh '45 Sidney Wetherhead '45 (Theta Chi) James Adams '49 (Phi Sigma Kappa) Brian Stone '50 (Sigma Phi Epsilon) John Black '53 (Sigma Phi Epsilon) Gregory Arvantely '54 (Alpha Tau Omega) Alan Ede '55 Robert Horrigan '55 Guy Nichols '56 SIM D. Eng. (hon.) '81 John Howe '57 (Lambda Chi Alpha) Peter Dirksen '58 (Sigma Phi Epsilon) Alan Benson '59 F. Gary Augeri '60 (Sigma Alpha Epsilon) Robert Purpura '60 (Theta Chi) Edward Sappet '60 Terry Donovan '61 Joseph Swartzbaugh '62 MS Frederick Borgeson '64 Stephen Griffn '65 MS Gordon Eaton '66 MNS John O'Brien '72 (Sigma Phi Epsilon) Ernest Kallander '77 MSM John Roman '77 Gary Beach '78 Edward Curtis '79 Bruce Richmond '80 Edward McGrath '81 Mary Carvajal '83 Kenneth Terrell '83 Daniel Field '87 James Pickett '87 MBA David Sheridan '07 We also note the passing of Professor Emeritus Vincent F. Connolly, '87, on May 23, 2014. He taught mathematics at WPI for 45 years. Complete obituaries can usually be found through legacy.com and newspaper websites. WPI will share details on the "completed careers" of friends and classmates. To request further information, contact jkmiller@wpi.edu or call 508-831-5998. in memory James Lowell Bartlett Jr., one of WPI's most accomplished alumni and most ardent supporters, died Aug. 26 at the age of 95 in his home surrounded by his family and friends. He leaves behind Shirley, his wife of 72 years, and three children, James III, Judith, and Stephen. He was blessed with grandchildren Cheryl Brown; Keith, James IV, Zachary, and Matthew Bartlett; Katelyn, Andrew, and Megwyn Bennett, three great-grandchildren, and a large and immensely loved extended family. He was preceded in death by his daughter Pamela, his four siblings, Parker, Milton, John, and Mary, and great-grandchild Rachael Dawn Brown. The Bartletts have been generous supporters to WPI over the years. Their philanthropy toward WPI began in 1998 with the James and Shirley Bartlett Scholarship Fund. The Bartletts also provided the transformational gift to name the Bartlett Center, which houses the university's admissions and fnancial aid offces (and is the frst LEED-certifed building in Worcester), and another leadership gift toward the construction of WPI's Campus Center. The lobby of the Rubin Campus Center is named in their honor. The Bartletts were members of the Salisbury Society, which recognizes remarkable lifetime philanthropy at WPI. Jim Bartlett was born in Newton, Mass., to James Lowell Bartlett, a meteorologist, and Philena Parker Bartlett, a professional educator and administrator. While a student at WPI, he worked in his father's wholesale greenhouse, and his aunt helped pay his frst year of tuition. During his time at WPI, he met Shirley Wyatt, a student at the Worcester Art Museum School, while attending a Sunday evening gathering at the Central Congregational Church in Worcester. They were married on Nov. 7, 1942. For over seven decades Bartlett developed a reputation as an accomplished engineer and businessman, pioneering developments in a wide range of technical felds and founding many businesses. After graduating from WPI, he joined B. F. Sturtevant Co. as a research engineer, eventually becoming assistant director of research. He later designed fans and blowers for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems at Trane Co. Relocating to California in 1951, he rose through the ranks to become a chief engineer at AiResearch Manufacturing Co., where he designed and developed components for small gas turbine engines, environmental systems for the Boeing 707, and an advanced air- breathing engine that burned liquid hydrogen. In 1958 he helped found Cosmodyne Corporation, which became one of the nation's largest manufacturers of equipment for storing, transporting, and handling liquefed gases. After selling his interest in Cosmodyne a decade later, he joined Cordon International as a senior vice president and director. Retiring in 1970 to the Santa Ynez Valley as a rancher, Bartlett became a member of the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, joining efforts to preserve the natural resources of the Valley. Leaving retirement, he returned to his passion of engineering and business in Goleta, becoming president and owner of Hydranautics, producing hydraulic systems for shipyard and offshore use. Over the next 10 years Hydranautics became a major supplier in the feld of reverse osmosis desalination in the United States and the Middle East. When Hydranautics was acquired by Rohm and Haas in 1984, Bartlett established Bardex Corporation to continue his interest in manufacturing heavy-load moving equipment. He reacquired interest in Cosmodyne and consolidated it with several other cryogenic companies. He later formed TriSep to make semipermeable membranes for reverse osmosis, ultrafltration, and nanofltration. In 2000 he became chairman of the board of Pacifc Design Technology Inc., which designs and builds fuid circulation systems for military and space applications. One such application was supplying the integrated pump assembly part of the electronic cooling system on the Mars Scientifc Laboratory, within the Curiosity rover. WPI recognized Bartlett for his many accomplishments in engineering and business by conferring on him an honorary doctorate of engineering in 1998. The WPI Alumni Association recognized him in 2004 with the Robert H. Goddard Alumni Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement. He also earned a listing in the 14th edition of Who's Who in Commerce and Industry. Along with Bartlett's many remarkable entrepreneurial adventures, he loved to spend time with his wife, piloting his small plane, and building or remodeling the homes they have lived in. He always had a side project in his workshop. Beyond Santa Barbara, the couple's second love has been both the home and friendships they built on the Island of San Juan, Washington. With his lifelong interest in religion and social welfare, Bartlett was a deacon and an elder at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Barbara and was a board member of the Rehabilitation Institute Foundation. He was known as a civic and community leader. In Memoriam: James Bartlett Jr. '39

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