Robert Maxwell McMeeking (born May 22, 1950) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

-born engineer. He is currently Tony Evans Distinguished Professor of Structural Materials and of Mechanical Engineering at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

. McMeeking has been widely recognized for his contributions to applied mechanics for which was awarded the 2014

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 ...

. He is a fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

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

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 ...

Early life and education

Robert Maxwell McMeeking was born on May 22, 1950, in

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. After graduating from

Allan Glen's School Allan Glen's School was, for most of its existence, a State school, local authority, selective Secondary education, secondary school for boys in Glasgow, Scotland, charging nominal fees for tuition. It was founded by the Allan Glen's Endowment ...

, he attended the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, earning a Bachelor of Science in 1972. At the university, he studied under

Ian Sneddon Ian Naismith Sneddon (8 December 1919 Glasgow, Scotland – 4 November 2000 Glasgow, Scotland) was a Scottish mathematician who worked on analysis and applied mathematics. Life Sneddon was born in Glasgow on 8 December 1919, the son of Ma ...

; Sneddon recommended McMeeking pursue graduate studies 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 ' ...

, where

James R. Rice James Robert Rice (born December 3, 1940) is an American engineer, scientist, geophysicist,''Who's who in Frontier Science and Technology.'' Vol. 1. 1984. p 608 and Mallinckrodt Professor of Engineering Sciences and Geophysics at the Harvard Joh ...

was teaching at the time. McMeeking earned a M.Sc. and Ph.D. at Brown University in 1974 and 1977, respectively, under the direction of Rice.

Career

McMeeking held positions at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 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 ...

before joining the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1985. From 1992 to 1995 and 1999 to 2003, McMeeking chaired the university's Department of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering. In 2015, he was named the inaugural Tony Evans Chair in Structural Materials. In 2014, McMeeking received the Timoshenko Medal in recognition of his "pioneering contributions to broad areas of applied mechanics." The same year, he was elected a Fellow of the

for “significant contributions in the understanding of how complex materials deform and break and for advancing fundamental engineering knowledge.” He is a member of the

and a fellow of the

Honors and awards

* 2015,

William Prager Medal The William Prager Medal is an award given annually by the Society of Engineering Science (SES) to an individual for "outstanding research contributions in either theoretical or experimental Solid Mechanics or both". This medal was established in ...

, Society of Engineering Science * 2014,

, American Society of Mechanical Engineers * 2007, Brown Engineering Alumni Medal,

Brown University School of Engineering The Brown University School of Engineering is the engineering school of Brown University, a private Ivy League research university located in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown's engineering program is the third oldest civilian engineering program i ...

* 2005, Elected member,

* 2004, Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists * 1998, Elected fellow,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McMeeking, Robert 1950 births Engineers from Glasgow American people of Scottish descent Alumni of the University of Glasgow Brown University alumni University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Living people