Simon Ostrach (December 26, 1923 – October 2, 2017) was an American applied mathematician and mechanical engineer. He was a pioneer in the fields of buoyancy-driven flows and microgravity science.

Early life and education

Ostrach was born and raised in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Engineering from

Rhode Island State College The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-gra ...

(now University of Rhode Island), followed by an additional Master of Science and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

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 ' ...

, both in Applied Mathematics.

Career

He was a Distinguished Professor at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, where he was affiliated with the Florida A&M University – Florida State University College of Engineering. He was also the Wilbert J. Austin Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Engineering at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

in Cleveland, Ohio. He was honored by NASA in 1998 as one of its "12 Superstars of Modern Aeronautics" and 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 the

American Academy of Arts & 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 F ...

Personal life

Ostrach was married twice and had five children. One of his sons, Louis Ostrach, died in 2017. He died at the age of 93 in

Pepper Pike, Ohio Pepper Pike is a city in eastern Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,796 as of the 2020 census. A suburb of Cleveland, it is a part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. History In 1763, sixteen pioneers settled the area ...

References

External links

Florida State University faculty profile

Case Western Reserve University Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty
1923 births 2017 deaths Engineering educators Florida State University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Case Western Reserve University faculty American fluid dynamicists Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering American engineers Brown University alumni University of Rhode Island alumni Scientists from Providence, Rhode Island Educators from Providence, Rhode Island {{US-academic-scientist-stub