Hassan Aref (Arabic: حسن عارف), (28 September 1950 – 9 September 2011) was the Reynolds Metals Professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, and the Niels Bohr Visiting Professor at the

Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark (), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's first polytechnic, and it is today ran ...

Education

He was educated at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

Niels Bohr Institute, graduating in 1975 with a cand. scient degree in

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. Subsequently he received a PhD degree in Physics from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1980.

Career

Academia and research

Prior to joining Virginia Tech as Dean of Engineering in 2003-2005 Aref was Head of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

for a decade from 1992-2003. Before that he was on the faculty of

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

, split between the Department of Applied Mechanics and Engineering Science and the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics 1985-1992. Simultaneously, he was Chief Scientist at the

San Diego Supercomputer Center The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) is an organized research unit of the University of California, San Diego. Founded in 1985, it was one of the five original NSF supercomputing centers. Its research pursuits are high performance comput ...

for three years 1989-1992. Aref started his faculty career in the Division of Engineering at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

1980-85.

Editorial work

Throughout his career Aref was involved in editorial work. He was Associate Editor of

Journal of Fluid Mechanics The ''Journal of Fluid Mechanics'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of fluid mechanics. It publishes original work on theoretical, computational, and experimental aspects of the subject. The journal is published by Cambridge Un ...

1984-94, founding editor with

David Crighton David George Crighton, FRS (15 November 1942 – 12 April 2000) was a British mathematician and physicist. Life Crighton was born in Llandudno, North Wales, where his mother, Violet Grace Garrison, had been sent because of the bombing of Lon ...

of Cambridge Texts in Applied Mathematics, and served on the editorial board of

Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...

and as co-editor of Advances in Applied Mechanics. He served on the editorial boards of

Physics of Fluids ''Physics of Fluids'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering fluid dynamics, established by the American Institute of Physics in 1958, and is published by AIP Publishing. The journal focus is the dynamics (physics), dynamics of gas ...

, Physical Review E, and Regular and Chaotic Dynamics.

Notable research

Fluid mechanics

Aref was the author of some 80 articles in leading journals in the field of fluid mechanics. He has also authored chapters in several books, edited two collections of papers, and given presentations at conferences and universities around the world. Aref received the 2000

Otto Laporte Award The Otto Laporte Award (1972–2003) was an annual award by the American Physical Society (APS) to "recognize outstanding contributions to fluid dynamics" and to honour Otto Laporte (1902–1971). It was established as the Otto Laporte Memorial L ...

from the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

for this work and for his work on vortex dynamics for which he is also well known.

Positions on scientific committees

Aref served as chair of the Division of Fluid Dynamics of the American Physical Society. He chaired the US National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and has served on advisory boards for several professional societies. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Congress Committee of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM), a member of the

National Academies A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ins ...

Board on International Scientific Organizations, and a member of the Board of the Society of Engineering Science. He served as Secretary for the Midwest Mechanics Seminar, 1994-2003. Aref was president of the 20th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics held in Chicago in 2000. In the 70+ years of these significant congresses they have been held three times in USA: In 1938 in Boston, MA, with

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

as the host institutions, in 1968 with Stanford University as the host, and in 2000 with a consortium led by University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign as the hosts.

Personal life and death

Hassan Aref was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, Egypt. Previously a citizen of Canada, he acquired U.S. citizenship in 1998. He died from an

aortic dissection Aortic dissection (AD) occurs when an injury to the innermost layer of the aorta allows blood to flow between the layers of the aortic wall, forcing the layers apart. In most cases, this is associated with a sudden onset of agonizing ches ...

Honors and awards

*2011

Geoffrey Ingram Taylor Sir Geoffrey Ingram Taylor OM FRS FRSE (7 March 1886 – 27 June 1975) was a British physicist and mathematician, who made contributions to fluid dynamics and wave theory. Early life and education Taylor was born in St. John's Wood, London ...

Medal * 2011 Honorary Doctorate,

* 2006 Niels Bohr Visiting Professor,

*2003 Reynolds Metals Professor,

*2001 Fellow, World Innovation Foundation *2000 Otto Laporte Award,

"For his pioneering contributions to the study of chaotic motion in fluids, scientific computation, and vortex dynamics, and most notably for the development of the concept of chaotic advection." *2000 Fellow, American Academy of Mechanics *1994 Toshiba Keio Lecture, Keio University, Japan *1991 Westinghouse Distinguished Lectureship,

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

*1991 Lecturer, Midwest Mechanics Seminar *1988 Fellow,

"For the elucidation of chaotic motion in few-vortex problems and particle advection, and for the development of numerical methods based on many-vortex interactions." *1988

Stanley Corrsin Stanley Corrsin (3 April 1920 – 2 June 1986) was an American physicist, fluid dynamicist, and Theophilus Halley Smoot Professor of Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University. He was known for his contributions in the field of fluid dynamics in ...

Lectureship, The

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

*1986 Foreign Member, Danish Centre for Applied Mathematics and Mechanics *1985 Presidential Young Investigator Award,

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

*1975

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Fellowship;

Graduate Fellowship, 1975–1980

References

External links

*Personal web page at

: *Personal web page at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

:
Vortex Dynamics
Blog by Hassan Aref
Hassan Aref's blog
Blog by Hassan Aref
Author profile
in the database

zbMATH zbMATH Open, formerly Zentralblatt MATH, is a major reviewing service providing reviews and abstracts for articles in pure and applied mathematics, produced by the Berlin office of FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastru ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aref, Hassan 1950 births Cornell University alumni University of Copenhagen alumni University of California, San Diego faculty Egyptian emigrants to the United States University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Virginia Tech faculty American physicists Egyptian physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society Fluid dynamicists 2011 deaths Brown University faculty