Corporal Robert Burns MacMullin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1898. He served with the First Gas Regiment in France during World War I and was an ardent supporter of the Chemical Warfare Service and Chemical Corps.

He was active in the First Gas Regiment Association and was editor of their newsletter the “Gas Attack” for many years. After World War I, Corporal MacMullin received a degree in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and went on to a distinguished career in chemical engineering.

Corporal MacMullin holds over 50 patents, he published widely in professional journals and he authored chapters in several textbooks and encyclopedias.

Among his awards are the 1982 Award for Chemical Engineering Practice from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Schoellkopf Medal and the Perkin Medal.