People Remembered: Bill Bland

OPC member William F. (Bill) Bland, 91, a chemical engineer and technical journalist, died May 29 at his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. When he started publishing PetroChemical News, its first office space was in the old OPC building in New York City at 54 West 40th Street. Bill started his publishing career in 1944 when he became engineering editor for National Petroleum Publishing Company.

From 1953 to 1963, he was chief editor of McGraw-Hill’s Petroleum Processing magazine and an assistant to the publisher of all McGraw-Hill petroleum publications. Bill joined the OPC in 1964 as a resident member and had been a non-resident member since 1998. In an e-mail to Bland's daughter, Susan B. Kensil, OPC Executive Director Sonya K. Fry wrote, "Your father was a staunch supporter of the Club for many, many years."