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Dr. John R. Grace, OC

$86,862.00 (raised so far)

About Dr. John R. Grace, OC

John Grace, PhD’68, joined UBC in 1979 as Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. Between 1990-96, he was Dean of Graduate Studies and oversaw the planning of Green College, St. John’s College and various other interdisciplinary units. From 2001 until he retired in 2014, Dr. Grace was a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Clean Energy Processes at UBC. He was a world-leading expert in fluidization, capture of CO2 and reactor design. He authored over 700 publications, including Bubbles, Drops and Particles (1978), a leading reference source for two-phase flow, and co-edited the comprehensive textbook Essentials of Fluidization Technology (2020). Dr. Grace worked closely with industry and governments. He won UBC awards for teaching, mentoring and research. He had many honours bestowed upon him in recognition of his research, including by engineering societies in Canada, the US and the UK. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2001, and appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013. He was the inaugural winner of the Hall of Fame Award from the UBC Chemical and Biological Engineering Department in January 2021. An “Interdisciplinary Graduate Scholarship” in his name was established during his term as Dean. He donated the proceeds from winning the Killam Mentoring Award for faculty members to fund the “John Grace Mentoring Award for Graduate Students and Post-doctoral Fellows”. In his honour and to support research and graduate students, his spouse Dr. Sherrill E. Grace, OC, established the “John Grace Graduate Scholarship in Chemical and Biological Engineering”.

Click here to read more about John Grace.

The impact of your support

In honour of John’s life, please consider giving to the John Grace Graduate Scholarship in Chemical and Biological Engineering. Your gift will pay tribute to John’s life by supporting graduate students in their pursuit of a UBC education. Final decisions on award distribution will be made in consultation with the family.

Messages of Remembrance

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  • Forever grateful for his encouragement, support and guidance throughout my doctoral journey

    Long Cheng, Student
  • An inspirational leader who demonstrated, through professionalism and intelligence, the very best among scholars. His legacies are many and distributed. A 'nice guy' who finished first.

    Neil Guppy, Friend
  • I recall interesting discussions with John , both on climate change and on the politics of BC and Canada. A knowledgable and engaging chap, with a fine mind and perceptive viewpoints, he had sometimes sardonic views on University politics in Canada, occasioning laughter and joviality. He will be missed by us all.

    Earle Waugh, former brother-in-law
  • Dr. Grace was best teacher I had ever had. His teachings influence my daily life. He taught me a lot more than just academic knowledge. It is really sad to find the news from Linkedin today. I was thinking of him all since after graduation, although did not have chance to shake his hands, listen to his teaching and enjoyed his sharpness since. Such a loss. He was literally my family when I was at campus. My deepest condolences to his family which I never met. But I am sure everyone feels the pain as he is such such a great person...

    Ping Sun, Ph.d Student
  • Dr. John Grace is a very kind, patient and knowledgable supervisor. In my memory, he smiles all the time. Rest in Peace.

    Ming Ming Yu, Student
  • I did not know John well, but was a long time friend of some of his brothers and sisters. My condolences to all of the family in this trying time.

    Ted Aziz, Friend of the Grace family
  • Almost 40 years ago I encountered John's famous textbook as an undergraduate at McGill. Since that time, we have crossed paths regularly on both academic and industrial pursuits. About 5 years ago, I had engaged John on a project, and instead of meeting at the University, he instead invited me over to his house, where we sat at his dining room table, discussing a fluidization issue. This personal touch and ability make one feel that their issues were important was what I will remember about John. He always made time for people, sharing his vast knowledge with anyone that could benefit from it. A true professional, and great person. I shall miss him.

    Wayne Brown, Industrial colleague and friend
  • My sincere condolences to Sherill. John taught me a number of undergraduate courses at UBC and he was also my PhD co-supervisor. John was the most humble man I had ever met in my life. I am going to miss him dearly as he was not just my PhD supervisor but he was a great mentor.  Poupak Mehrani

    Poupak Mehrani, Former PhD student
  • Claire and I remember John from our early years at UBC, 1992 on. He was a bright and brave soul, standing up for principles and equity. Sincere condolences from both of us, Sherrill. Susan B. Boyd and Claire F.L. Young

    Susan B. Boyd, UBC colleague
  • I will always remember John fondly for countless reasons. One of the first was his sense of humour. I will never forget when I first came to his office, his comment was ´a student just came out of the woodwork´. He boldly embarked on a research journey with me that was not within his regular bandwidth but he took it on with joy and energy and I will be forever indebted to him for supporting me through thick and thin during this journey. I proudly carry his torch of so many things that made him stand out amongst many many people. A true statesman, gentleman, ambassador, brilliant chemical engineer with a family name befitting of his personality. I will miss you terribly.

    Monica Danon-Schaffer, Former PhD student of his
  • We all know John was a world renowned researcher, but what I truly respected most about John was his kindness and desire to help others. His legacy will live on through the many he has inspired.

    Michael Wormsbecker
List of Donors
All Donors
  • Anonymous Donation

  • Anonymous Donation

  • Elizabeth Grace

  • Long Bill Cheng

  • Elizabeth Grace

  • Anonymous Donation

  • Pamela Rosenbaum

  • Naoko Ellis

  • Tyler Lewis Clean Energy Research Foundation

  • Zhengliang Liu

  • Anonymous Donation

  • Duncan Grace

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