Harold E. Babbit
Harold Eaton Babbitt was born on January 7th 1888. He received his B.S. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1911. He then joined the staff of the Department of Municipal and Sanitary Engineering here at the University of Illinois in 1913 as an Instructor. He went on to obtain his M.S. degree from Illinois in 1917 and went on to become the Professor of Sanitary Engineering in 1925.
Babbitt was a pioneer in American Sanitary Engineering education. His research activities included investigations of garbage disposal with sewage, diatomite water filtration, the hydraulics of wells and open channel flow of sludge, removal of radioactive phosphorous from water, effect of radioactivity on sludge digestion, disposal of radioactive wastes, and corrosion of copper pipes.
Babbitt played an active role in numerous technical organizations and societies. He was a recipient of the prestigious Fuller award from the American Water Works Association, and he was inducted into the Water Industry Hall of Fame. He passed away on October 10th, 1970.