Celebrating Professor Roger Sargent, 1926 – 2018

Professor Roger Sargent, former Head of Chemical Engineering and founder of CPSE

We are immensely sad to share the news that Professor Roger Sargent, former Head of Department and CPSE founder, has passed away at the age of 91.

Professor Sargent had a profound impact on industry and academia during his long career and will be remembered as the “founding father of process systems engineering” for his role in defining the discipline. His contribution to the field has been recognised with numerous awards and medals, including two prestigious lifetime achievement awards; the MM Sharma Award from the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) and the Frank Whittle Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Current Director for the Centre for Process Systems Engineering (CPSE) Professor Claire Adjiman said: “Roger was a visionary engineer who foresaw early on the potential impact of computers on the process industries. In working to realise that impact, he created the scientific discipline of process systems engineering and instilled in people around him a desire to pursue research excellence while developing solutions of relevance to industry and practice. He founded the Centre for Process Systems Engineering nearly 30 years ago with this ethos in mind and we are deeply grateful for this legacy. He was a mentor and inspiration to many and his hugely impressive academic family bears witness to his scientific influence worldwide.”    

At present, Professor Sargent’s academic family tree contains over 2000 names, a testament to the widespread impact of his research.

Professor Costas Pantelides, a former student, added: “Roger Sargent – “Prof” as his students used to refer to him with a mixture of reverence and affection – was indisputably an intellectual giant. His work, starting in the late 1950s and continuing over five decades, was truly ground-breaking and its fruits pervade much of today’s technology for process modelling, design and operations. I shall remember him forever.”

"He was a true gentleman, and above all, a very kind human being." Professor Ignacio Grossmann Former PhD student

In addition to being remembered for his intellect in process systems engineering, his personal impact on the academic world cannot be underestimated. His intelligence was matched by a warmth of character which will greatly missed by the colleagues and students with whom he worked.

Another former student, Professor Ignacio Grossmann, paid tribute to him: “Professor Roger Sargent, founder and pioneer of Process Systems Engineering, meant a lot to me. He had a tremendous impact on my career. I was truly fortunate and privileged for having him as my PhD advisor. He was a true inspiration, a visionary scholar with very high standards who believed in the power of mathematical optimization. He was a true gentleman, and above all, a very kind human being. I will sorely miss him.”

Professor Sargent’s career with Imperial began in 1944 when he joined the College to pursue his BSc in Chemical Engineering, from which he graduated in 1947. He went on to complete his PhD on low temperature separation techniques at the College under the supervision of Professor Dudley Newitt. After several years working in Paris at Air Liquide he returned to the College as a Senior Lecturer.

During his career he held roles including Chair and Courtauld Chair of Engineering (1962 and 1966 respectively), Dean of the City and Guilds College (1973-1796), Head of Department of Chemical Engineering (1975-1988) and Founder and Director of the Centre for Process Systems Engineering (1989-1992). External roles included President of IChemE, Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Engineering, and Founding Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 1994 CPSE inaugurated the annual Sargent Lecture to pay tribute to his excellence and legacy in the field of Process Systems Engineering, and in 2014 IChemE created the Sargent Medal to recognise major contributions to research in the area of computer-aided product and process engineering.

We would like to extend a final thank you to Professor Roger Sargent for the time, passion and energy he shared with us during his lifetime, and share our condolences with his family for their loss.

Imperial College London has established a student support fund in Roger’s memory. For more information, or if alumni or friends feel they would like to make a gift in Roger’s memory, they can contribute by visiting the page on the College website.