NPRE Founder Daniel Hang Dies at 95

12/18/2013 Susan Mumm, Editor

Written by Susan Mumm, Editor

NPRE Founder Daniel Hang Dies at 95

Daniel Frank Hang, among the founders of nuclear engineering education at the University of Illinois and a passionate advocate of what is now the Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering Department, passed away December 15, 2013, at the age of 95.

Daniel F. Hang, 2013
Daniel F. Hang, 2013

 

“Dan will be greatly missed,” said NPRE Department Head Jim Stubbins. “For many years after his retirement (in 1984), Dan would be in the office helping out, particularly with alumni activities and the alumni board. He took immense pride in NPRE, and served as a strong voice for the department. He was exceptionally energetic and astute; just this past July several of our faculty and staff members helped him celebrate his 95th birthday.”

Hang first came to Illinois to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1941, then returned in 1947 for graduate school. Earning a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1949, he continued teaching at Illinois until his retirement in 1984. While on the Electrical Engineering Department faculty in the late 1950s, Hang joined a small group of other engineers interested in nuclear engineering. With Marvin E. Wyman and Felix Adler, the first two professors hired to build the new program; Bei Tse Chao, mechanical engineering professor; and Arthur B. Chilton, founder of the Office of Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security, Hang helped establish the program with a master’s degree curriculum in the 1958-59 academic year. He later became a full professor with responsibilities in both the Electrical and Nuclear Engineering Departments.

“Dan loved the (TRIGA) reactor that we had here,” recalled Professor Emeritus and former NPRE Department Head Barclay G. Jones. While the reactor was being constructed on campus in the late 50s, Hang and Wyman were among a group that traveled to the West Coast to visit General Atomic, the reactor’s manufacturer, to become licensed to operate the facility. Jones said Hang maintained strong interest in research and training fuctions of the reactor, and served on its overseeing committee for several years. The TRIGA was shuttered in 1998.

Hang’s interest in engineering economics resulted in his forming a company, HTH Associates, responsible for developing a Nuclear Fuel Management Code that many major utilities in the U.S. and abroad continue to use. He also served on a state committee charged with identifying and evaluating sites in Illinois to store low-level nuclear waste.

NPRE Department Office Administrator Idell Dollison with Dan Hang at the 2013 NPRE/ANS Honors Banquet
NPRE Department Office Administrator Idell Dollison with Dan Hang at the 2013 NPRE/ANS Honors Banquet

 

Hang was involved in a number of professional organizations throughout his career. He became a licensed Professional Engineer in 1950, joined the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) in 1955, and became a life member in 1984. He was a strong advocate for engineers to become licensed and taught refresher courses all over the state to prepare students for the licensure exam.

Hang was a Senior Life Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a life member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) serving on their examining boards for many years.

He joined the American Nuclear Society (ANS) in 1963 and became a life member in 1984. NPRE alumni and friends attending ANS national meetings can recall fondly the camaraderie Hang made possible during social events he hosted in conjunction with the conferences. Keeping these events friendly and informal, Hang hosted the gatherings in his hotel room, which included “beer in the bathtub.”

Hang was a member of ABET (formerly Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology), responsible for accrediting programs such as NPRE’s, and was a site evaluator for this organization. He was a member of the Illinois Engineering Council and served in various capacities supporting Mathcounts, Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE), Future Cities, and E-Week. He served as a faculty advisor to Tau Beta Pi.

Hang became a Resident Research Associate at Argonne National Laboratories near Chicago in 1960 and spent several summers working there in various capacities. He did consulting work for Commonwealth Edison and the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The University of Illinois Alumni Association honored Hang with the 1997 Loyalty Award, and that organization’s Constituent Leadership Award in 2004. From the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers Hang received both an Honorary Membership commendation for outstanding service to the engineering profession, and the Illinois Award, the society’s highest honor for meritorious service. In September 2013, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) presented Hang with the department’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Hang was a member of several honor societies, including Eta Kappa Nu (1940), Sigma Xi (1941), Tau Beta Pi (1941),and Alpha Nu Sigma (1982).

Born July 17, 1918, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ernest Hang and Bertha (Papp) Hang, Daniel Hang was raised in Cleveland and Lorain, Ohio, before moving to Stuart, Florida, in his late grade school years. His family moved again to Miami Beach, Florida, where Hang graduated from Ida M. Fisher High School (now Miami Beach High). He studied pre-engineering at the University of Miami from 1936-1939 before transferring to the Urbana campus. After earning his bachelor’s degree, he worked a few years for General Electric in Schenectady, New York, and focused on various military projects including SONAR in support of the war effort. It was during this time, in September 1941, that he married Ruth Ann McGaughey of Newman, Illinois.

Hang was a Little League coach and was active for over 50 years in the Boy Scouts of America. Advisor to Explorer Post 8, he organized and accompanied several canoe trips to Region Seven Explorer Canoe Base in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin. Hang received the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts in 1961.

He is survived by his sons: Kenneth (and wife, Emily) of Cary, North Carolina, and William (and wife, Deborah) of Westlake Village, California; five grandsons, nine great grandchildren, two nephews, and many “extended family” members in the engineering community. His wife and a brother, Cornelius Camillus Hang, preceded him in death.

“It should be remembered that Dan was a devoted husband and father to his wife and two sons,” Jones said. “The outcome of that has been that they produced a couple of stalwart citizens in Ken and Bill and their subsequent families.”

Jones also noted Hang’s sense of humor. “One of the things that set him apart was that he loved jokes and he enjoyed passing them on to his friends.”

A memorial service will be held at Clark-Lindsey Village, 101 W. Windsor Road, Urbana, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 21, 2013.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honorary) or the Prairielands Council of Boy Scouts of America.


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This story was published December 18, 2013.