Maurice G. Larian served as a faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering from the 1930s to 1971. Dr. Larian was born in Armenia and came to the U.S.A. without financial resources. He worked long hours in his student days, as he depended on his earnings and scholarships for his support while studying for his B.S. and M.S. at Iowa State University, and his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. He was the epitome of a scholar, a cultured, humble gentleman, a good, but demanding teacher. His most memorable quality, however, was his sincere interest in and concern for his students, present and past.
Maurice G. Larian wrote a textbook, Fundamentals of Chemical Engineering Unit Operations, published by Prentice-Hall in the Chemical Engineering Series in 1958. An except from the Preface of the textbook reads:
"It is said that the purpose of all education is to train the young to think. The engineer will be called upon to make decisions which should be sound and wise both in a technical sense and in terms of their human objectives. Sound judgement implies an analytical approach and the constant awareness of certain physical limitations... To this end, Fundamentals of Chemical Engineering Operations is written in an analytical style, without, however, minimizing the significant role played by the empirical approach in engineering thinking... While the ultimate aim of engineering education may be to answer the engineering problems of what to do and why, the fact should not be overlooked that the graduating engineer must know how to do things...The book is, therefore, written from a somewhat practical viewpoint and includes references to engineering economics, illustrated by appropriate examples."
Although more recent texts have replaced Professor Larian's text, Michigan State University is proud of the contribution of Professor Larian's text to the Chemical Engineering profession during its time of use.