Lauren B. Hitchcock

Lauren Blakely Hitchcock
Born(1900-03-18)March 18, 1900
Paris, France
DiedOctober 15, 1972(1972-10-15) (aged 72)
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, MS, PhD)
Known forAir pollution research and advocacy
Scientific career
FieldsChemical engineering, air pollution control
InstitutionsUniversity at Buffalo, University of Virginia, Air Pollution Foundation of Los Angeles

Lauren Blakely Hitchcock (March 18, 1900 – October 15, 1972) was a chemical engineer and early opponent of air pollution.[1][2]

Hitchcock was born in Paris to Frank Lauren Hitchcock, a mathematician and physicist, and Margaret Johnson Blakely, and was raised in Belmont, Massachusetts. He received his undergraduate (1920), master's (1927), and doctorate degree (1933) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He taught at the University of Virginia from 1928 to 1935 and then moved into private industry.[1]

Hitchcock became president of the Southern California Air Pollution Foundation (APF)[3][4] in 1954, which had been formed to fight smog. Hitchcock identified automobile exhaust and backyard incinerators as the cause and advised that significant steps would be needed--comparable to wartime efforts--to fight the problem in a meaningful way.[1] In 1963, Hitchcock was appointed to the faculty at University at Buffalo, where his work papers are now archived.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Dr. Lauren B. Hitchcock Dead; Engineer an Expert on Pollution". The New York Times. 1972-10-17. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  2. ^ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. J.T. White. 1979.
  3. ^ John, Rebecca (2024-11-12). "Revealed: Big Oil Told 70 Years Ago That Fossil Fuel Emissions Could Impact 'Civilization'". DeSmog. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  4. ^ Davies, Kert (2024-11-15). "DeSmog Investigation - Archival Documents Reveal Oil Companies Funded Climate Science in 1954 - Were Told 70 Years Ago That CO2 Emissions Could Impact "Civilization"". Climate Files. Retrieved 2025-01-15. November 23, 1953: Purpose of the Southern California Air Pollution Foundation, Agenda of first meeting, List of Trustees... Copies of this First Technical Progress Report were sent to all the Air Pollution Foundation's trustees and contributors, which included the Western Oil & Gas Association (now known as the Western States Petroleum Association, WSPA) and its member companies such as Shell; General Petroleum and Humble Oil (now ExxonMobil); Richfield Oil (now BP); Sunray Oil (Sunoco); Tidewater (ConocoPhillips); Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas); Southern California Edison; and Standard Oil of California, the Texas Company, Union Oil, and Western Gulf (all now Chevron).