Dr. Albert Leslie Babb was an engineer and professor in the fields of chemical and nuclear engineering at the University of Washington for more than four decades. He is known for his pioneering work in the development and commercialization of artificial kidney systems and applications of nuclear energy to medicine.
Les Babb was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on November 7th, 1925. He attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, earning a Bachelor's of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering in 1948. He moved to Illinois and earned his master's and doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1951. His doctoral thesis, entitled "Light Scattering Near the Critical Solution Temperature," was directed by Dr. H. G. Drickamer. After completing his Ph.D., Babb worked with Rayonier, Inc. in Shelton, Washington as a research engineer. In 1952, he joined the University of Washington faculty as an assistant professor in Chemical Engineering and was promoted to associate professor in 1956, and to professor in 1960. In 1956, Babb took charge of the budding Nuclear Engineering program. From 1961-1981, he served as the chairman of the Nuclear Engineering Department, and from 1984-1987, was acting chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department. Dr. Babb was awarded the title, Professor Emeritus in 1992.
In 1953, the College of Engineering offered its first Nuclear Engineering course. Impressed with the possibilities presented by this field, Dean Harold Wessman decided to initiate a Nuclear Engineering Department, and placed Babb in charge of its construction. In 1956, a Nuclear Engineering "group" was formed to give structure to the early classes offered in nuclear engineering. Drawing faculty from the Engineering College, it laid the groundwork for the diverse curriculum offered by the department. In 1965, the Department of Nuclear Engineering began, with Babb as its chairman. During this period, Babb designed and built a subcritical uranium graphite reactor in the basement of Bagley Hall, and then designed a 10kW water-graphite moderated nuclear reactor for teaching and research by faculty on campus. He supervised the construction and assembly of the reactor in its new building, its upgrade to 100 kw of power, and its operations.
During the 1960s and 1970s, a team led by Professor Babb and Dr. Belding Scribner, a faculty member in the school of medicine, engineered several advances in the field of hemodialysis. Prior to the first dialysis project, treatment for renal failure was very limited and costly. Early dialysis machines were cumbersome and inefficient as they could only treat one patient at a time. During the summer of 1963, Dr. Babb and Lars Girmsud, a graduate student, designed a multi-patient dialysate mixing system which they nicknamed "the monster." The goal of this machine was to reduce the overall cost of dialysis treatment and to increase access to dialysis, but the number of patients needing dialysis treatment still exceeded the capacity of hospitals to care for them. To cope with this scarcity of resources in Seattle, an anonymous committee of citizens was appointed to select patients to receive dialysis treatment. When 16-year-old Caroline Helm, the daughter of a friend of Dr. Babb's, was denied urgent treatment by the committee, Dr. Babb assembled a volunteer team of engineers and physicians who were willing to work on evenings and weekends. Together, they managed to create a small dialysis machine, simple and safe enough to be used at home without the supervision of a medical professional. The "mini-monster" was delivered to the University of Washington Hospital on June 1st, 1964. It was a trim two feet by three feet, weighed a mere 150 pounds, and allowed patients a more affordable option for treatment. Caroline Helm and her mother received training for home usage of the "mini-monster" and her treatment began the following month.
In addition to his work at the University of Washington, Dr. Babb acted as a consultant to several major companies and government organizations. In the 1970s, he worked on "Thermo-Tubes," designed to stabilize areas of permafrost, for the Alyeska Pipeline project. He acted as a consultant to Puget Sound and Dry Dock Company for the development of a nuclear Naval base on Puget Sound in the 1960s. He has also participated in government review committees related to Artificial Kidney work through the National Institutes of Health.
Many organizations have recognized Babb's work. He was nominated for a Nobel Prize in 1977, and has received the Engineer of the Year Award from the American Nuclear Society, Puget Sound Section in 1969, the Actual Specifying Engineering Award in 1970, Sigma Xi's Northwest Region Award for Noteworthy Achievement in Research in 1982, the National Kidney Dialysis Foundation Award in 1982, the University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award in 1987, and the Northwest Kidney Foundation Clyde Shields Distinguished Service Award in 1992. He is the only University of Washington faculty member elected to both the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. His election to the NAE in 1972 was in recognition of his pioneering work in the development and commercialization of artificial kidney systems and his applications of nuclear energy to medicine. In 1982 he was elevated to the rank of Fellow at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Organized into 2 accessions.
Babb's papers document his work throughout his career at the University of Washington. They focus primarily on Babb's academic life and teaching career, his research, and his consulting work with government organizations and private companies. Biographical features and a complete curriculum vitae are located in personal papers. University of Washington material contains administrative papers related to the Chemical Engineering Department, the Nuclear Engineering Department, and the Graduate school. Papers relating to professional activities such as non-University of Washington committees, societies, and consulting projects include his activities in societies such as the American Nuclear Society and American Society for Engineering Education, as well as his service on the Board of Trustees of the Pacific Science Center Foundation. Research files include material related to the Kidney Dialysis Project and the Sickle Cell Anemia Project along with other research completed at the University of Washington. Much of the correspondence in Babb's papers concerns administrative matters at the University of Washington. Major correspondents include the the University of Washington Departments of Nuclear and Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, the University of Washington Graduate School, Puget Sound Bridge and Drydock Company, United States National Institutes of Health Artificial Kidney-Chronic Uremia Research and Development Program, the American Society for Engineering Education and the Pacific Science Center Foundation.
Open to all users, but access to portions of the papers restricted. Contact repository for details.
Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Received in seven installments between 1973 and 2006, and in 2015.
Processed by Sinclaire Lindsey. Processing completed in 2008.
Guest log books for the Nuclear Engineering Reactor Building were moved to the University of Washington Nuclear Engineering Department Records.
The Special Collections Division in the University of Washington Libraries also houses additional materials related to Albert Babb's work in nuclear engineering in the records of the University of Washington Department of Nuclear Engineering. Materials specifically related to his work with kidney dialysis are also located in the Belding H. Scribner papers.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
Special Media: Photograph (prints) Photograph (negatives Slide Cassette Audio Tape Reel to Reel Audio Tape Videotape (VHS) Videotape (U-Matic) Videotape