ITHACA, N.Y. -- L. Gary Leal, professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering at the University of California at Santa Barbara, will deliver the 1996 Julian C. Smith Lectures in Chemical Engineering at Cornell University on April 23 and 25.

Leal will speak on "Studies of the Motions of Polymeric Liquids: Experimental Studies" (April 23) and "Studies of the Motions of Polymeric Liquids: Theoretical Studies" (April 25). Both lectures will be at 4 p.m. in room 165 Olin Hall and are free and open to the public.

Recognized for his research in viscous flows at high and low Reynolds number, Leal's current research is focused largely on free boundary problems, especially those involving bubbles or drops, which exhibit complex nonlinear dynamical behavior, suspension mechanics and fluid mechanics of complex fluids.

Leal earned a B.S. degree from the University of Washington in 1965 and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1969. A member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, Leal held a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Applied Mathematics at Cambridge University, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

He has been a visiting lecturer at several universities in the United States, and has served as a consultant and adviser to a number of programs including the Cornell University School of Chemical Engineering Advisory Council. Leal is the author of approximately 170 papers and a book, Laminar Flow and Convective Transport Processes.

In 1975 he was awarded a Teacher-Scholar Grant by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. He received the Allan P. Colburn Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) in 1978, and the William H. Walker Award from the AIChE in 1993.

The Julian C. Smith Lectureship in Chemical Engineering was established by members of the chemical engineering class of 1962 and other friends, colleagues, and former students to honor "an inspiring teacher, respected author, and influential consultant." Each year the fund brings a leader in the field of chemical engineering to Cornell to lecture and interact with students and faculty members. The purpose is to broaden perspectives and help keep the School of Chemical Engineering vigorous and responsive in an ever- changing world.