ROBERT EUGENE INMAN

Bob was born November 20, 1931, in Vincennes, the second of four children of George and Esther Inman. He attended Washington and Riley elementary schools, and graduated from Lincoln High School in the Class of 1950. While in high school he played varsity football, basketball, and track, participated in Lincoln Playhouse, Booster's Club, and Student Council, and was elected to the National Honor Society. He served as Treasurer of his senior class.

Bob attended Wabash College, where he played football and track and was selected for membership in the honorary fraternities, Blue Key and Sphinx Club. He was a member of Kappa Sigma social fraternity. He graduated in 1954 with aB.S. degree.

Bob completed graduate studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, where he was awarded M. S. and Ph.D. degrees in plant sciences. It was here that he met and married his wife, Joan.

His professional career began at the University of Massachusetts as Instructor, and later as Assistant Professor. He joined Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in 1964 where he conducted various research under contract to industry and the federal government. This included pioneer research on the biological control of weeds, which took him to Europe and Africa to search for and test plant disease organisms which might be used as weed control agents. In later research, he discovered and demonstrated that the major air pollutant, carbon monoxide, was removed from the atmosphere under natural conditions by soil fungi. He also led several projects monitoring air pollutants being released from various industrial sites using selected plants as indicators.

Research on biomass energy occupied the last ten years of Bob's professional career. He was the first to develop and evaluate the biomass energy plantation concept, under auspices of the U. S. Dept. of Energy. This work was begun while at SRI, and he continued it through employment by the Mitre Corporation in McLean, VA, and the Solar Energy Research Institute in Golden, CO. His professional career concluded with work on alternative energy sources at the Atlantic Richfield Company in Los Angeles, CA.

Bob is now retired and lives in Florida with his wife, Joan. They have two daughters and three granddaughters. He visits Vincennes each year to join in Homecoming festivities.

Distinquished Alumni 1998

Class of 1950