Robert Byron Bird is a Chemical Engineer and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is known for his research in Transport phenomena of Non-Newtonian fluids, including fluid dynamics of polymers, polymer kinetic theory, and rheology. Bird was a recipient of the National Medal of Science in 1987. He was born on February 5, 1924 in Bryan, Texas, United States. He received B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1947 and Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1950. Bird is a recipient of the National Medal of Science; the Medal was awarded by President Ronald Reagan "for his profoundly influential books and research on kinetic theory, transport phenomena, the behavior of polymeric fluids, and foreign language study for engineers and scientists."