Award
Presentation Remarks
J.
Tinsley Oden
The
USACM is pleased to bestow the John von Neumann Medal on
Dr. Richard H. Gallagher for his sustained research contributions
to computational mechanics and to the advancement of the
subject through his visionary leadership in the broad community
of researchers and practitioners of computational mechanics.
Dr.
Gallagher has a distinguished career as an engineer, researcher,
scholar, author, and university administrator. He began
his work on finite element methods in the early 1960s when
he was among the first industrial researchers to develop
and apply matrix methods of structural analyses to significant
problems in aircraft structures. His monograph, "A Correlation
Study of Matrix Methods of Structural Analysis," represented
an early and definitive work on this new subject. His early
published work on aircraft analysis and design by computational
methods had significant influence on the entire industry
and set into motion the computerization of these technologies
that are in place today. He was among the first to consider
the use of computational techniques and finite element methods
in structural optimization problems and he compiled and
edited an important volume on this subject in the 1970s.
Gallagher's
early work was done at Bell Aerospace Co., in the 1960s.
He earned his Ph.D. from The State University of New York
at Buffalo in 1966 and joined the faculty at Cornell University
in 1967, where he became Chairman of the Department of Structural
Engineering in 1969. While at Cornell, Gallagher made numerous
contributions to the emerging field of computational mechanics,
publishing well-received texts on Matrix Methods in Structural
Analysis, Finite Element Methods, and in 1967 launching
as the co-editor of the International Journal for Numerical
Methods in Engineering. He was instrumental in organizing
several series of international conferences on finite element
methods and their application to engineering analysis problems.
These include the popular and influential meetings on Finite
Elements in Flow Problems, Coupled Problems, the U.S.-Japan
Conferences, and numerous others. Parallel to these important
meetings, a series of books were published which highlighted
finite element methods for fluid and thermal analysis. He
has been the author or editor of some 26 volumes on these
subjects together with several hundred papers. These works
have had a remarkable impact on computational mechanics.
Gallagher
became Dean of Engineering at the University of Arizona
in 1978, he was Provost at Worcester Institute from 1984-1988
and he became President of Clarkson University in 1989,
a position which he now holds. Dr. Gallagher has received
numerous awards for his research contributions. He was elected
to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 1983, he
received honorary doctorates from the University of Swansea
in 1987, Shanghai University of Technology in 1992, Technical
University of Vienna in 1987, and ClarksonUniversity in
1995. In 1985 he was awarded the Worcester Reed Warner Medal.
He received the Benjamin Garver Lamme Award in 1990 from
the ASEE, the Structural Dynamics and Materials Award from
the AIAA in 1990, the IACM Congress Medal in 1991 and in
1993 the ASME Medal, the highest honor awarded by that society.
The USACM is especially indebted to Dr. Gallagher. He is
a founding member of the IACM and the USACM and has promoted
these organizations aggressively since their inception.
As a
recipient of the von Neumann Medal, Dr. Richard H. Gallagher
is recognized for his many fundamental contributions to
computational mechanics, particularly to finite element
methods, optimization, and to the engineering literature
through his papers, journals, books, and monographs, and
he is also recognized for his contributions to the profession
of engineering.
Award
Acceptance Speech
Richard H. Gallagher
My delight
at receiving this honor is colored by a regret at not being
present to receive it in person. Yet, who could ask for
a better surrogate than Olek Zienkiewicz, the leading figure
of this field we call computational mechanics, but more
important to me, my friend and collaborator of over 30 years
standing.
This
is an awesome honor, for so many reasons, not the least
of which is its presentation before an audience of friends,
colleagues and former students. It is tempting to look back
an express appreciation for having been able to work in
this field and to observe the work of others who have brought
the subject to its present remarkable importance in engineering
design and analysis. It has, indeed, been a unique privilege.
It is
far more important, however, to recognize the continual
progress and revitalization of the field by those who contribute
to it today and into the future. You, the attendees here
tonight, and thousands like you around the globe, have made
the entire topic of computational mechanics the great field
that it is. I look forward to the USACM meetings ahead,
where I will learn from this work and perhaps continue to
contribute to it as well.
Again,
in closing, my deepest thanks for a very great honor.
