Remember when Professor Ben Etkin delivered the G. N. Patterson lecture in 1989?

Well, he began his talk in the following way:

“I gave up the idea of trying to entertain you with funny stories about people and events in the Institute's history. I wasn't able to collect very many, and anyway, I'm not very good at that kind of thing. I remember when I was Dean of the faculty and had to give my first ever speech at a grad ball. I figured I'd better start with a joke – so I went and got some joke books and worked up a couple to use. I called in my son David and tried them out on him. I could see the torment in his face as he tried to find the right words with which to respond. Finally he said, Dad, why don't you just skip the jokes?

“I did get a laugh once though. That was when I got up after some dinner or other and proclaimed, “that was finger-lickin' good.”

You need only look at a picture of Ben Etkin to know why people laughed at that joke! And, when Etkin was named Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, the Skule edition of the Telegram had some fun.

According to the Bulletin in 1982, Prof Etkin made some important changes as dean.

"He played integral roles both in changing the engineering curriculum from the ‘year system’ to the ‘semester system,’ and in introducing the M.Eng. degree. He also developed several laboratory and lecture courses, designed and managed the installation of the U of T subsonic wind tunnel, and made a strong effort to attract more female students into the profession.”

Etkin also helped organize the pilot program which later became the Professional Experience Year (PEY).

But Etkin realized that his real passion lay in research. He would often sneak off to the undergraduate lab just above his office to join in the studies they were doing. It was there that he “suddenly envisioned” how an infrared sizer system, designed by Prof. Herbert Haultain from mining, could be “speeded up and converted from a small batch ‘analysis’ process to a continuous production process.” Etkin was so eager to get to work on this idea that he requested his tenure as dean be shortened from 7 years to 5 years. Unfortunately, the Sandford Fleming fire happened, and chaos ensued, so Etkin remained dean for another year before returning to his lab at UTIAS where he went on to create the Infrasizer MK II and his TERVEL separator, both of which were patented and licensed for manufacture.

Professor Ben Etkin died on June 26, 2014. He was 96 years old and sharp as a tack up until the end. In fact, as he did every year unless he was travelling, he attended the II Glass Lecture on April 29, 2014 to present the Etkin Award for best MASc thesis. That year it was awarded to Nicole Houser, and Ben, who was a long-time advocate of female students in engineering, was absolutely delighted. He described Nicole in an email to me as “a real powerhouse of a student!”

To get a fuller sense of Prof. Etkin’s accomplishments, it is worth taking a few minutes to read the article from U of T News on the occasion of his death: