Dr. Carl W. Hall, Founding Editor

DRYING TECHNOLOGY—AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

As Drying Technology embarks on its 25th year of continuous publication, it is a great honor and privilege for me to acknowledge the vision of the founding editor of this journal, Dr. Carl W. Hall. The success of this journal is a tribute to the foresight of Dr. Hall, who recognized the need for an archival source of publication. The International Drying Symposium series (IDS) already had two successful runs in Montreal (1978 and 1980) when the idea of this journal was conceived. The first two issues appeared in 1982–83 volume after the third IDS was successfully held in Birmingham, U.K.

The IDS proceedings provided a global forum for academia–industry interaction but prior to 1982 there was no single peer-reviewed publication that focused on the science, engineering, technology, and even art of thermal dehydration or drying. Dr. Hall deserves to be complimented and credited for bringing together a valuable body of knowledge, which was scattered widely until the emergence of this journal. Indeed, like IDS, it is fair to say that this journal promoted international cooperation in this field and attracted a large number of young and seasoned researchers from diverse disciplines and industrial sectors to conduct R&D in this challenging field. As energy costs rise and resources become scarcer, there is no doubt that R&D in this field will necessarily intensify in the future.

I would like to take this opportunity to provide a short introduction to our Founding Editor.

After graduating from Ohio State University (B.A.E. 1948), Dr. Hall went on to obtain his master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Delaware (1950) and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University (1952). After a 3-year stint in WWII with the U.S. Army, he moved to the academic field with tenures at University of Delaware, Michigan State University, and Washington State University, where he is emeritus dean of engineering. He served as deputy assistant director of the Directorate of Engineering at the National Science Foundation (NSF) during 1982–1990. It was during his tenure at NSF that he founded and became the first editor of this journal until 1989.

Dr. Hall is a prolific author, with some 30 books to his credit and contributions to 36 additional books. He is author or co-author of over 400 journal articles and has advised over 50 postgraduate theses. His research areas were drying, heat transfer, and biological and food engineering. He has contributed immensely to numerous professional organizations as well as UN agencies. It is not surprising that he was honored by numerous national and international organizations.

Among the awards he received, I would like to mention only a few, viz. Distinguished Faculty Award, MSU, 1963; Centennial Achievement Award, OSU, 1970; Award du Merite, French government, 1979; Max Eyth Medal, Germany, 1979; Distinguished Service Award, NSF, 1988; ASEE Centennial Medallion, 1993; University Distinguished Career Award, University of Delaware, 2006. Clearly, this is only a sample list for the benefit of our readers.

Dr. Hall has been a major source of inspiration and support at the helm of this journal who constantly strived to enhance its effectiveness to our readership in academia as well as industry. For this I am in continuous touch with Dr. Hall, although by snail mail. His advice has always been extremely valuable not only in running this journal but also in a number of professional and personal matters as well. I have been fortunate in having a mentor par excellence in Dr. Hall.

The readers of this journal will recognize Dr. Hall's contributions over the last two decades in the form of highly readable Snippets, which have appeared regularly in this journal. For this special 25th anniversary issue he has taken the trouble to prepare a special article for our readers entitled, “Reviews on Drying: 1982–2006.” I am sure our readers will find this article of special interest.

Finally, on behalf of the editorial team of Drying Technology and our global readership I would like to wish Dr. Hall and his family many happy and healthy years in retirement!