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This is the 19th Volume in the series Memorial Tributes compiled by the National Academy of Engineering as a personal remembrance of the lives and outstanding achievements of its members and international associates. These volumes are intended to stand as an enduring record of the many contributions of engineers and engineering to the benefit of humankind. In most cases, the authors of the tributes are contemporaries or colleagues who had personal knowledge of the interests and the engineering accomplishments of the deceased. Through its members and international associates, the Academy carries...
This is the 19th Volume in the series Memorial Tributes compiled by the National Academy of Engineering as a personal remembrance of the lives and outstanding achievements of its members and international associates. These volumes are intended to stand as an enduring record of the many contributions of engineers and engineering to the benefit of humankind. In most cases, the authors of the tributes are contemporaries or colleagues who had personal knowledge of the interests and the engineering accomplishments of the deceased. Through its members and international associates, the Academy carries out the responsibilities for which it was established in 1964. Under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering was formed as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. Members are elected on the basis of significant contributions to engineering theory and practice and to the literature of engineering or on the basis of demonstrated unusual accomplishments in the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology. The National Academies share a responsibility to advise the federal government on matters of science and technology. The expertise and credibility that the National Academy of Engineering brings to that task stem directly from the abilities, interests, and achievements of our members and international associates, our colleagues and friends, whose special gifts we remember in this book.
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BY C.T. BOWMAN AND W.A. SIRIGNANO
GERARD MICHAEL FAETH, Arthur B. Modine Distinguished University Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan and a principal investigator for a number of combustion experiments on Space Shuttle missions, passed away on January 24, 2005, at the age of 68.
Jerry was born in New York City on July 5, 1936, and grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey. At Union College in Schenectady he played varsity football and earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1958. He went on to study mechanical engineering at Pennsylvania State University, receiving an MS degree in 1961 and a PhD in 1964.
He served on the Penn State mechanical engineering faculty from 1964 to 1985, and then joined the University of Michigan, where he was named Arthur B. Modine Professor of Aerospace Engineering and head of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory. In fall 2004 he was named a Distinguished University Professor, one of the highest honors a faculty member can receive. During his diverse career he published more than 230 archival journal papers and 200 conference papers, presented more than 200 invited lectures and seminars, and mentored over 50 doctoral students and 20 master’s students.
His research was characterized by excellence and originality, and spanned many areas—combustion of fuel sprays, liquid breakup processes in jets, droplet breakup processes, turbulence properties of jets and plumes, turbulence in multiphase flows, flame structure, particulate formation in flames, heat transfer from combustion processes, fire suppression, and microgravity combustion.
His research papers are exceptionally well cited and many are regarded as classical in their areas. In addition, he was editor of major journals in three different fields: Combustion and Flame, the ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, and the AIAA Journal. Jerry was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1991 and a fellow of four technical societies—the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and American Physical Society.
In 2004 the Combustion Institute awarded him the Alfred C. Egerton Gold Medal for his distinguished and continuing contributions to the field of combustion. Clearly, his extraordinary achievements were widely recognized and, based on his exceptional energy, practical wisdom, and engaging personality, led to his selection for many leadership positions.
He was active in public service, serving as a member or chair of numerous NASA, NRC, and NAE advisory panels. His universities often asked him to lead recruitment searches for high level positions. He also served as reunion chair for Union College, his alma mater. Jerry and Mary Ann, his late wife, were an active, visible, and immensely popular couple in social activities associated with scientific conferences.
They took great pleasure in traveling to exotic locations together, and retreating each summer to their cottage in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania, with close friends. They are survived by three daughters, a son-in-law, and six grandchildren.