Senate Document 98-03
Agenda Committee
For information Sept. 4, 1998

TO:                   Faculty Senate
FROM:            Agenda Committee
SUBJECT:       Albert L. Kaye Memorial

MEMORIAL RESOLUTION
FOR
ALBERT L. KAYE, Sc.D.

Professor Emeritus of Metallurgical Engineering Technology

Professor Albert L. Kaye died on December 1, 1997.  Retired from Purdue University Calumet since 1976, Al Kaye was 88 years old at his death.

Al was a native of New York, and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1927 to 1934, earning a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science, and a Doctor of Science in electro-chemistry.  Following two years as a research fellow at M.I.T., he joined Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation in Chicago as a metallurgist.  He left Carnegie-Illinois as manager of the Metallurgical Division of the Alloy Bureau in 1945, and became vice president and general manager of Beckman Supply in Hammond, a post he held until his retirement in 1966. 

Upon retirement from Beckman Supply, Al Kaye was named associate professor of metallurgical engineering technology at Purdue University Calumet.  In his eleven years as a faculty member at Purdue Calumet, Al worked diligently to modernize the metallurgy curriculum, “abandoning,” as he noted, “blacksmith metallurgy in favor of a quantitative physical metallurgy approach based on the fundamentals of chemistry, physics, and structure...”

When he retired from the faculty in 1976, Professor Kaye was named  a Special Assistant to the Chancellor, with specific assignments in the areas of developing the Chancellor’s Advisory Council and enriching communication with business and industrial leaders in northwest Indiana.  He served in this voluntary capacity for two years before bringing his service to the University to a close in 1978.

During his career as a professional engineer, Al Kaye was honored by the American Men of Science, Who’s Who in Engineering, and Who’s Who in the Midwest.  He was a member of the American Society for Testing and Materials, the American Society for the Advancement of Science, the American Society for Metals, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, and the Society of the Sigma Xi.  He was a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Hammond.  He served as vice president in charge of Civic Affairs for the Hammond Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Chamber’s Urban Renewal Council, as a commissioner on the Hammond Redevelopment Commission, as president and director of the Credit Bureau, and as a member of the Mayor’s Citizens’ Advisory Committee.  He served as president of the Hammond School Board, of which he was a member for many years, and he served his alma mater as an area educational counselor.

Al Kaye met his future wife, Helen, on a blind date while both were attending school in Boston.  Their marriage flourished for 67 years.  Al and Helen had three children, Louise (David) Stone of Williamsport, PA;  Richard (Betty) Kaye of Hazelcrest, IL; and Robert Kaye of Groton, CT.  Their family included six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren at the time of Al’s death.

Al Kaye was a gentle and enriching colleague.  His calm demeanor and persistent enthusiasm were the hallmarks of his years at Purdue University Calumet.  He believed intensely in the process of making education available to all who would avail themselves of it, and he did not fail in his lifetime to work diligently to achieve that goal.

Al Kaye’s careers were diverse and several, and he gave fully of himself to each.  His years at Purdue University Calumet were productive, spirited, and engaging.  As described by Lance Trusty, in Purdue University Calumet:  The First Fifty Years:

                        Among the more memorable faculty was M.I.T. graduate A.L. ‘Al’ Kaye,
                        who, after a career in a family-owned corporation, joined the Department
                        of Metallurgical Technology at Purdue Calumet.   Kaye modernized the
                        program, cadged lab equipment from industry, developed a variety of new
                        courses, served as a special assistant to the chancellor, and retired in
                        1976.  [page 48]

Memorable indeed was our colleague, Al Kaye.  He contributed a great deal to what we are today, and in the nearly 25 years since he left the University we have built well on what he offered and what he believed.

William L. Robinson
Professor of Communication
Head, Department of Communication and Creative Arts