John Leask Lumley (4 November 1930 – 30 May 2015) was an American fluid dynamicist and a professor 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 ...

. He is widely known for his research in

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...

and is the coauthor of ''A First Course in Turbulence'' along with Hendrik Tennekes.

Academic career

Lumley received his M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees from

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 ...

in 1954 and 1957 respectively. His Ph.D. thesis supervisor was

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 ...

. He started his academic career at the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

where he became Evan Pugh Professor of Aerospace Engineering. He was also in charge of research on turbulence and transition at the Applied Research Laboratory. In 1977 Lumley joined Cornell University where he was the Willis H. Carrier Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (Emeritus) until his death in May 2015 of

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

. He was an editor of the ''

Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics ''Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on fluid mechanics. It is published once a year by Annual Reviews and the editors are Parviz Moin and Howard Stone. As of 2023, ''Annual Review of Flui ...

'' from 1977 to 2002.

Honors and awards

Lumley received the 1990 Fluid Dynamics Prize of

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 his outstanding contributions to the understanding of turbulent flow, in particular, the fundamental structure of turbulent shear flows, the effects of drag-reducing additives, and his widely recognized contributions to the statistical theory of turbulence, and for his personal and intellectual leadership in the international fluid dynamics community, including his educational films and books, and his long active devotion to the Division of Fluid Dynamics of The American Physical Society." He has also received several other awards, including: *Fluid and Plasma Dynamics Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1982 *

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 ...

, 19931993 Timoshenko Medal Acceptance Speech by John L. Lumley
/ref> *Recipient of two honorary doctorate degrees (honoris causa) from the French University System, in Lyon and in Poitiers. *Fellow of the

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecra ...

*Fellow 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 ...

*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 ...

Books authored

* Tennekes, H. and J. L. Lumley, ''A First Course in Turbulence'', MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (1972). * Holmes, P., J. L. Lumley, and G. Berkooz, ''Turbulence, Coherent Structures, Dynamical Systems and Symmetry'', Cambridge University Press (1998). * Lumley, J. L., ''Engines: An Introduction'', Cambridge University Press, (1999). hbk ; pbk * Lumley, J. L.
''Still Life with Cars: An Automotive Memoir''
McFarland, (2005). * Lumley, J. L., ''Stochastic Tools in Turbulence'', Dover Publications (2007). * Monin, A. S., A. M. Yaglom, and J. L. Lumley, ''Statistical Fluid Mechanics - vol 1: Mechanics of Turbulence'', The MIT Press (1971). * Lumley, J. L., H. A. Panofsky, "The Structure of Atmospheric Turbulence", John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York, NY (1964).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lumley, John L. 1930 births 2015 deaths American fluid dynamicists Johns Hopkins University alumni Pennsylvania State University faculty Cornell University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Fellows of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Annual Reviews (publisher) editors