James Albert Harder, Ph.D., (December 2, 1926 – December 30, 2006) was a professor of civil and hydraulic engineering at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. He was a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

there. Harder also had interest in ufology.

Engineering

Harder taught in civil engineering at several levels, including practical aspects like lab experiments relating to the field and model testing. He produced few papers but was known for their quality. Harder is notable for his contributions that advanced the field of flow simulations, including before the use of computers became ubiquitous. A paper he co-authored, ''Sea Water Intrusion in California'', received an American Water Works Association award in 1957. His work was applied at Suisun Bay and the Mekong Delta. He also studied fish protection facilities. He eventually studied fluid mechanics in the context of medicine. He worked on the development of electric

artificial heart An artificial heart is a artificial organ, device that replaces the human heart, heart. Artificial hearts are typically used as a bridge to heart transplantation, but ongoing research aims to develop a device that could permanently replace the ...

s and gastrointestinal

endoscope An endoscope is an inspection instrument composed of image sensor, optical lens, light source and mechanical device, which is used to look deep into the body by way of openings such as the mouth or anus. A typical endoscope applies several modern ...

s as well as equipment to prevent the need for external bags associated with

colostomy A colostomy is an opening (stoma) in the large intestine (colon), or the surgical procedure that creates one. The opening is formed by drawing the healthy end of the colon through an incision in the anterior abdominal wall and suturing it int ...

Ufology

Harder believed

Unidentified flying objects An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shape ...

to be extraterrestrial beings and testified to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

Committee on Science and Astronautics. He was part of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO).

Education

* B.S., 1948,

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

* M.S., Civil Engineering, 1952, UC Berkeley * Ph.D., Fluid Mechanics, 1957, UC Berkeley

Career

* U.S. Navy, 1944-45 (electronics technician) * Design Engineer, soil conservation service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1948–50 * UC Berkeley, Resident engineer, 1952–57 * UC Berkeley, assistant professor, hydraulic engineering, 1957–62 * UC Berkeley, associate professor of civil engineering, 1962–70 * UC Berkeley, professor of civil engineering, 1970–91 * UC Berkeley, professor emeritus (1991)

Organizations

*Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

(AAAS) *Fellow of the

American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...

(ASCE) *Founding member, Society for Scientific Exploratio
website

References

External links

testimony and biography
1998 UC Berkeley newspaper article
, Harder’s controversial views of a "Galactic Federation" of aliens and alien channeling with humans
James A. Harder Biography in French
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harder, James 1926 births 2006 deaths UC Berkeley College of Engineering faculty People from Fullerton, California Ufologists California Institute of Technology alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni