Rice mourns professor emeritus Rex McLellan

Rex McLellan, professor emeritus of materials science and nanoengineering, died April 21 after a short battle with cancer.

Rex McLellan

McLellan came to Rice in 1964 and helped elevate the material sciences program, becoming a world leader in hydrogen and hydrogen embrittlement, said Pulickel Ajayan, chair of the Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering.

“Rex was also instrumental in establishing the unique Rice flavor of Materials Science as both ground-breaking and practical,” Ajayan said.

During his 49-year career at Rice, McLellan was an expert on thermodynamic and kinetic behavior of solids. After his retirement in 2013, McLellan and his wife, Shirley, moved to Austin to live closer to their family.

Colleagues cherished McLellan’s “straight-shooting personality and gentlemanly treatment of people,” Ajayan said. “They appreciated his scientific rigor and admired the way he cared for and nurtured the talented students in his laboratory, and taught challenging topics in the classroom.”

Enrique Barrera, Rice professor of materials science and nanoengineering and of chemistry and a longtime collaborator with McLellan, remembered him fondly.

“While he has been away from us for a number of years, I still think of him, and only recently was thinking of him because of his work in hydrogen,” Barrera said. “He was a treasured member of our department.”