A Tribute to Paul Dillon (1921-2004)
by Gary Coates, M. O. Pearce, R. W. (Bud) Ross and others
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April 7, 2004-- It is with regret that we announce the passing of C. P. (Paul) Dillon.
Paul was highly respected within the corrosion community, and was a valued consultant to the Nickel
Development Institute (NiDI) and its successor, the Nickel Institute.
Those of us who had dealings with Paul remember him for his generosity of spirit and his willingness to
assist and transfer his technical knowledge and experience to others. He had strong opinions and held them
with great conviction, but he was always ready to listen to and respect the opinions of his peers.
NiDI was formed in 1985, and we were fortunate to be able to have Paul come on-board right away as a
consultant. Paul participated as a lecturer in NiDI's Materials Engineering workshops from the first, given
in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K,. until his health prevented him from travelling in 1995.
Paul continued to provide Nickel Institute technical service to enquirers to his last week. No
doubt the high reputation that NiDI and the Nickel Institute has had for providing accurate and useful
technical information is in large part due to Paul's knowledge and abilities.
Those of us fortunate enough to have traveled with Paul will fondly remember those evenings after a long day
when one would find him comfortably seated, preferably in an armchair, with a glass of Irish in one hand, and
ready and eager to debate the trials and tribulations of the world.
Paul was the author of many books and technical articles, many published by NACE, MTI, and NiDI. He was made an MTI Fellow in 2001 in recognition of his critical involvement in the formation of that organization. He was also a NACE Fellow, a certified NACE Corrosion Specialist, and taught the NACE Basic Corrosion Course for many years.
Paul's knowledge of chemistry as well as corrosion, combined with his 34 years of service in Materials
Engineering at Union Carbide (now a subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company), provided Paul with some unique
insights into how materials perform in a corrosive environment. He will be greatly missed in the corrosion
community, but Paul has left behind many great tools containing his wisdom for us to apply as we consider
those kinds of questions.
Gary Coates is Technical Director of the Nickel Institute; M. O. Pearce is a
former President of the Nickel Development Institute and R. W. Ross is a consultant to the Nickel
Institute.
