Byron Bird is the Vilas Professor Emeritus in the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  His research interests are in the areas of non-Newtonian fluid dynamics, macromolecular kinetic theory, and transport phenomena.  He is the co-author of several books including: Molecular Theory of Gases and Liquids, Transport Phenomena, Dynamics of Polymeric Liquids, and Basic Technical Japanese.  He was a Fulbright Lecturer in the Netherlands and Japan.  Dr. Bird is a recipient of the National Medal of Science from President Reagan.  He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, Sigma Xi, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  Dr. Bird is also a foreign member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Science and the Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences.