Daniel Charles Drucker (June 3, 1918 – September 1, 2001) was an American civil and

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

and academic, who served as president of the Society for Experimental Stress Analysis (now

Society for Experimental Mechanics Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM) is a professional organization for engineers and scientists studying the design and implementation of experiments to characterize materials, structures, and systems. Formed in 1943 as the Society for Experim ...

) in 1960–1961, as president of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing edu ...

in the year 1973–74, and as president of the American Academy of Mechanics in 1981–82. Drucker was known as an authority on the theory of plasticity in the field of applied mechanics. His key contributions to the field of plasticity include the concept of material stability described by the Drucker stability postulates and the Drucker–Prager yield criterion.

Biography

Youth and education

Drucker was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. His father Moses Abraham Drucker was a civil engineer, and Drucker wanted to follow in his footsteps.G.J. Dvorak, R.T. Shield. ''Mechanics of Material Behavior: The Daniel C. Drucker Anniversary Volume,'' 2016. p. 1 Drucker studied at the

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he obtained his BSc in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

in 1938. Next, in 1940 he obtained his PhD in mechanical engineering under Raymond D. Mindlin.

Career, honours and awards

Between 1940 and 1943, Drucker taught at

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 ...

, later joining the

Armour Research Foundation IIT Research Institute (IITRI),Greenbaum & Wheeler (1967), cover sheet (technical paper).McCormac; et al. (1967), p. i (book)."IITRI" (or "iiTRi") is used on cover sheets of technical paper documents in prior decades. also known historically and ...

. After his U.S. Army Air Corps service, he briefly returned to the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

, then he taught 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 ' ...

from 1946 until 1968 when he joined the

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

as Dean of Engineering. In 1984 he left Illinois to become a graduate research professor at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

until his retirement in 1994. He received the Murray Lecture and Award in 1967, title the seventh Honorary Member in 1969, Frocht Award in 1971 and title of

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

from the Society for Strain Analysis (SESA), now known as the Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM). In 1988, Drucker was awarded the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...

. He was a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

and of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. The Drucker Medal is named in his honor. He was also awarded the

Timoshenko Medal The Timoshenko Medal is an award given annually by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to an individual "in recognition of distinguished contributions to the field of applied mechanics." The Timoshenko Medal, widely regarded as ...

in 1983.

Daniel C. Drucker Medal

The Daniel C. Drucker Medal, awarded by the

, was named in his honor in 1998. Drucker was the first recipient of this annual award. * 1998 Daniel C. Drucker * 1999 Ascher H. Shapiro * 2000 Philip G. Hodge * 2001 Bruno A. Boley * 2002 George J. Dvorak * 2003 Leon M. Keer * 2004 Frank A. McClintock * 2005 Robert L. Taylor * 2006 Alan Needleman * 2007 Albert S. Kobayashi * 2008 Thomas C. T. Ting * 2009 James R. Barber * 2010 Rohan Abeyaratne * 2011 John W. Rudnicki * 2012 James W. Dally * 2013 Yonggang Huang * 2014 Lallit Anand * 2015 Krishnaswamy Ravi-Chandar * 2016 Kyung-Suk Kim * 2017 David Parks * 2018 David M. Barnett * 2019 John Bassani * 2020 Glaucio H. Paulino * 2021 Markus J. Buehler

Death

Drucker died from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

on September 1, 2001.

Selected publications

* An evaluation of current knowledge of the mechanics of brittle fracture * Constitutive relations for finite deformation of polycrystalline metals : proceedings of the IUTAM Symposium, held in Beijing, China, July 22–25, 1991 * Fracture of solids : proceedings of an international conference sponsored by the Institute of Metals Division, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Maple Valley, Washington, August 21–24, 1962 * Introduction to mechanics of deformable solids * Macroscopic fundamentals in brittle fracture, 1967: * Mechanics of material behavior, 1983: * On fitting mathematical theories of plasticity to experimental results * Plastic design methods - advantages and limitations * Stress analysis by three-dimensional photoclastic methods * Stress-strain relations in the plastic range : a survey of theory and experiment

References

External links

Daniel C. Drucker
NAP, Memorial Tributes * {{DEFAULTSORT:Drucker, Daniel C. 1918 births 2001 deaths American mechanical engineers Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni University of Florida faculty National Medal of Science laureates ASME Medal recipients Scientists from New York City Presidents of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Engineers from New York City 20th-century American engineers Brown University faculty Fellows of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Deaths from leukemia