Article in Gladewater area newspaper – approximately 1947

“David K. Eads Gets Mellon Fellowship Award”

            --- Gladewater Man Worked on Atom Research

            Visiting in Gladewater is a distinguished young chemical engineer and scientist, whose research work has won for him a coveted fellowship in the Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh, PA.

            The young scientist is David K. Eads, who received his master’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Illinois this week, and will enter Mellon Institute June 23^rd.  He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Eads, 304 Melba Avenue.

            During the war Eads won high commendation from the government for his work on the production of the Atomic bomb, a work which he kept secret even from his parents.        

            The Mellon Institute was established by Andrew W. Mellon and Richard B. Mellon to provide qualified workers with facilities for investigating thoroughly problems of major importance in pure and applied sciences, especially chemistry.

            The Mellon brothers decided to broaden the scope of the institute by making available provisions for investigation in the broader fields of sciences and the Industrial Fellowship System evolved.  The institute soon demonstrated the value of its research procedure and the entire program has since been supported generously by the founders and their families.  It is organized on a contract basis, the research problem being set up by a person, firm or association interested in its solution, the scientific worker being found and engaged by the institute and an industrial fellowship being assigned for a period of at least a year.

            Such a fellowship has been awarded Mr. Eads, a graduate of the University of Illinois.  He has been doing research on a sulphur problem in the Noyes laboratory on the university campus.  His research work is supported by an industrial fellowship maintained by one of the largest sulphur companies in America.

            The dean of the graduate school has chosen Eads’ thesis for publication since it is considered quite valuable for the basic information contained on evaporation which can be applied to jet engines, spray towers, poison gas dispersal, spray drying systems, air conditioning systems and several types of modern furnaces used in chemical laboratories, removing some of the elements of uncertainty previously encountered.

            Eads was graduated with the class of 1944 after three and a half years in the college of liberal arts and sciences, majoring in chemical engineering at the University of Illinois.  He received his bachelor degree with high honors in February, 1944.  During his senior year he was elected to the Illinois chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering, a professional fraternity; to Tau Beta Pi, honorary fraternity in the college of engineering, and Sigma Tau, social organization.

            On the day of graduation he entered the government’s Manhattan Project in the Garfield Division of Houdaille-Hershey Corporation, a war plant at Decatur, Illinois.  After two years service in this Atomic bomb parts plant, Charles C. Conley, technical manager, said of Eads:  “He has been continuously engaged in research and development of testing equipment of a new and unique type for use in the Manhattan Project of the United States Army since February 5, 1944; he has served as section head and has exhibited unusual interest and skill in this work, being responsible for a considerable number of improvements in design and operation; he has made a distinct contribution to the work of this project.”  On August 6, 1945, Eads received a War department citation as having “participated in work essential to production of the Atomic bomb, thereby contributing to the successful conclusion of World War II”.

            Upon leaving the war plant at the conclusion of the war, Eads returned to the university to do graduate work for his master’s degree, continuing research in chemical engineering.  He was awarded an assistantship and taught freshmen chemistry the first semester of 1946; receiving the fellowship offer in September, he accepted to give full time to research.

            Simultaneously with his research problem at Mellon Institute, Mr. Eads will take one and one-half units of graduate work each semester in the University of Pittsburgh, applying his research work to his thesis for the degree of doctor of philosophy in chemical engineering.

            The young scientist was born May 10, 1923, at Velasco, Texas, where his father was employed by a sulphur company.  He attended primary schools in Fort Worth, Dallas and Athens, high school at Pine Tree and Salem, Illinois.  He was a member of the high school band and also was in the university bands, two years in the military band and a year and a half in the concert band.

An interesting newspaper article I found in my grandmother’s family scrap book.  It is an article on David Eads, the son of Clyde and Leila Eads.  Although they were not living in Athens or Murchison at the time this article was printed, I thought there would be plenty of people in the Athens area that would remember the Eads family.

As a side note:  David Eads died on June 20, 1994 in Levittown, Pennsylvania.  He and his wife Florence had six boys.

Submitted by Rick Featherston

Old Newspaper Articles of Henderson County

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