Rolf Prince

Prince was born in Chemnitz,^[3] Germany on 2 August 1928^[4] from a Jewish family.^[1] He and his mother moved to Italy in 1936, to Ireland in 1939 and to New Zealand in 1940,^[1][2] and he became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1946.^[5] He was educated at Christchurch Boys' High School in Christchurch, then studied chemical engineering and chemistry at Canterbury University College of the University of New Zealand graduating in 1949.^[3] He then took a PhD at the University of Sydney, Australia, becoming a lecturer there.^[2] In 1953 he moved to the UK as a process engineer with The Distillers Company.^[3]

From 1958, Prince pursued an academic career, starting as a lecturer at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, then in 1960 a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney and in 1965 a professor at the University of Queensland,^[2] where he established a new department of chemical engineering.^[4] From 1969 to 1994 he was professor and head of the department of chemical engineering at the University of Sydney, remaining there until his retirement in 1998.^[1][2][3]

Prince died in Sydney on 3 July 2017.^[4][6]

He married Laurel Williamson (19 November 1926 – 7 April 2018),^[7] whom he met while a student.^[1] They had three children.^[1][7]

• Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)^[8]
• Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal from Engineers Australia^[1][2]
• President, Institution of Chemical Engineers 1986–7^[3]
• Fellow, Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering^[6]
• His portrait was painted by Robert Hannaford and won an Archibald Prize in 1998^[9]