to the development of solvent extraction of lubricating oils. Another landmark contribution was the 1939 Industrial & Engineering Chemistry paper that described the Thiele modulus, a dimensionless quantity describing the boundary between reaction-controlled and transport-controlled catalytic particles. Following retirement from Standard Oil, Thiele became a professor of chemical engineering at Notre Dame where he taught courses in thermodynamics, reactions, instrumentation, process control, and simulation. Following 10 years at Notre Dame, Thiele returned to Chicago and lived the next 27 years in the Skokie-Evanston area. Thiele died November 29, 1993, in the Presbyterian Home in Evanston. Honors Thiele was awarded the Founders Award by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 1966 and elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 1980. In 1971, the University of Notre Dame awarded Thiele an honorary doctorate for his many contributions to chemical engineering. He was a member of the Chicago Chemists Club and the American Chemical Society, in addition to being a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). In 1986, the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Notre Dame established the Thiele Lectureship in Chemical Engineering. The lectureship recognizes excellent contributions to chemical engineering by young members of the chemical engineering profession. The first Thiele lecture was presented by Professor Douglas Lauffenburger, with Ernest Thiele in attendance. The lectureship is given every year, with the presenter selected by the faculty of Chemical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. Key publications Ernest Thiele has authored numerous journal articles describing significant advances in chemical reaction engineering which includes but is not limited to: W.L. McCabe, E.W. Thiele, "Graphical Design of Fractionating Columns", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 17, 605, (1925). E.W. Thiele, "Prediction of Flash Point of Blends of Lubricating Oils", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 19, 259, (1927). E.W. Thiele, R.L. Geddes, "Computation of Distillation Apparatus for Hydrocarbon Mixtures", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 25, 289 (1933). E.W. Thiele, W.B. Kay "Densities of Hydrocarbon Mixtures", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 25, 894 (1933). M.C. Rogers, E.W. Thiele, "Pressure Drop in Bubble-Cap Columns", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 26, 524 (1934). E.W. Thiele, "Application of Graphical Method of Ponchon to Distillation and Extraction", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 27, 392 (1935). M.C. Rogers, E.W. Thiele, "Bubble-Cap Column as a Liquid-Liquid Contact Apparatus", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 29, 529 (1937). E.W. Thiele, "Relation Between Catalytic Activity and Size of Particle", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 31, 916