Leslie S. G. Kovasznay (14 April 1918, Budapest – 17 April 1980) was a Hungarian-American engineer, known as one of the world's leading experts in turbulent flow research. Kovasznay earned in 1943 his doctorate in engineering at the Royal Hungarian Institute of Technology in the laboratory of Előd Abody-Anderlik in the faculty of mechanical engineering. After working from 1941 to 1946 at that Faculty, he spent a year at the

Cavendish Laboratory The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named ...

working with Sir Geoffrey Taylor. From 1947 to 1978 Kovasznay was a faculty member of the Aeronautics Department organized by Francis H. Clauser (1913–2013) at

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 ...

(JHU). In December, he resigned from JHU to become a professor of mechanical engineering at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

, where he remained in his professorship until his sudden death in 1980. In the 1970s, he worked with Hajime Fujita on experimental studies of interactions between

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

s and

wake turbulence Wake turbulence is a disturbance in the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air. It includes several components, the most significant of which are wingtip vortices and jet-wash, the rapidly moving ...

and, with Chih-Ming Ho, on experimental studies of interactions between sound and turbulence. He travelled widely, lectured at many universities and conferences, and made extended visits in France and Japan. He was the author or coauthor of more than 80 papers. He was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1955–1956. He was elected a Fellow of 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 ...

in 1962. Kovasznay married in 1944. Upon his death, he was survived by his widow and their daughter.

Selected publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovasznay, Leslie Stephen George 1918 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American physicists Aerodynamicists Budapest University of Technology and Economics alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society Fluid dynamicists Hungarian aerospace engineers Hungarian emigrants to the United States 20th-century Hungarian physicists 20th-century Hungarian inventors Johns Hopkins University faculty Musicians from Budapest 20th-century American inventors University of Houston faculty

Selected publications

See also

References