David M. Himmelblau was the Paul D. and Betty Robertson Meek and American Petrofina Foundation Centennial Professor Emeritus in Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas, where he taught for 42 years. He received his B.S. from MIT in 1947 and his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1957. He was the author of 11 books and over 200 articles on the topics of process analysis, fault detection, and optimization, and served as President of the CACHE Corporation (Computer Aids for Chemical Engineering Education), as well as Director of the AIChE. His book, Basic Principles and Calculations in Chemical Engineering, has been recognized by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers as one of the most important books in this field.