International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 3–4
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

In Memoriam

Professor Ernst R.G. Eckert (1904–2004)

The heat transfer community lost its most revered elder statesman, Professor Ernst R.G. Eckert, on
July 8, 2004, approximately two months before his 100th birthday. Professor Eckert was the mostinfluential heat transfer researcher of the twentieth century.
Prior to his passing, Professor EckertÕs friends and colleagues had planned a September celebrationof his life. That event was implemented because Professor EckertÕs unparalleled accomplishments weremost worthy of being celebrated.
An honorific testimonial to Professor EckertÕs life was prepared for publication in the International
Journal prior to his passing. That testimonial continues to be valid, and it is published here.
HEAT TRANSFERÕS PERSON OF THE CENTURY
Congratulations to Professor Ernst R.G. Eckert on the occasion of his 100th birthday
The heat transfer communityÕs Person of the Century celebrates the century mark of his own life in September, 2004.
Although that person, Professor Ernst R.G. Eckert, livedand worked on only two continents, his inﬂuence encompassed the entire world. The seven-decade span of his active
research is remarkable not only for its prodigious and innovative productivity but also for its longevity. Generations ofresearchers, practitioners, and students have been inspiredby the breadth, depth, quality, and quantity of his work.
doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2005.10.023

Prior to the publication of Professor EckertÕs ﬁrst bookin the 1940s, written in German and translated into English, the practice of heat transfer was primarily empirically
based, except for the work of the group led by Professor
Max Jakob. This book set forth the ﬁrst engineering-science-based approach to heat transfer. It featured the physical and the phenomenological descriptions of transport
processes, and it stressed the natural laws which underlay
these processes.

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In Memoriam / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49 (2006) 3–4

These same themes also served to underlie his research.
In simple terms, Professor EckertÕs research was an unﬂagging search for new phenomena and their physical bases.
He was endowed with a unique intuition which guided
him in his unﬂagging quest for the understanding of physical processes.
In his role as a teacher, Professor Eckert focused hisprimary eﬀorts on the classroom instruction of graduate
students and on guiding their doctoral research. His graduate students have gone on to be the intellectual leaders of
their respective generations. These graduate students werethe ﬁrst members of an ever-broadening family tree which
continues to ﬂourish to the present. This family tree is oneof his major legacies.
He was a multi-faceted role model for both students andcolleagues. To be in his presence was to be mentored. His
manner was, without exception, gentlemanly and somewhat reserved in the spirit of his times. The pace of his life
was measured and without excess. He was devoted to hiswife and children, and they, in turn, were devoted tohim. Modesty and moderation have been the dominant features of his personality.
Professor Ernst Eckert was born on September 13, 1904
in Prague, The Czech Republic. He trained as an engineer
at the German Institute of Technology (GIT) in Prague,
where he received both his undergraduate and doctoral degrees, respectively in 1927 and 1931. He continued his association with the GIT until 1935, when he left to pursue anadvanced doctoral degree that was a prerequisite for aprofessorial appointment in Germany. These advanced
studies were carried out at the Danzig Institute of Technology (Germany) under the direction of Professor Ernst
Schmidt, a world authority on thermodynamics and heattransfer.
At the completion of his advanced studies at Danzig in
1938, Professor Eckert accepted a joint appointment as afaculty member at the Braunschweig Institute of Technology and as a section chief at the German governmentÕs
Aeronautical Research Institute. He continued his association with the research institute until the end of World War
II. However, in 1943, he transferred his academic aﬃliationfrom Braunschwieg to the GIT in Prague, where he accepted an appointment as a full professor.
At the end of World War II, the US Army oﬀered contracts to the cream of German engineers and scientists forboth short- and long-term appointments at government research laboratories in the United States. Professor Eckert
accepted an appointment at the power plant laboratory
at the Wright-Patterson Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Thatassociation continued until 1951. In addition, he became
a consultant for the compressor and turbine division of

the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory of the National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1951, he accepted the position of Professor of
Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota,
which has been been his professional home to the presentday. Shortly after his arrival at Minnesota, he spearheaded
the development of a world-class heat transfer laboratory.
He continued to direct the heat transfer laboratory until hisformal retirement in 1972. Since that time, he has been aprofessor emeritus.
Professor EckertÕs professional contributions ranged
over the entire ﬁeld of heat transfer and related problemsof ﬂuid ﬂow. A special focus of his work which spanned
most of his professional career is the thermal managementof gas turbines. He and his colleagues have made numerous
seminal contributions to this area. Other areas where hiswork has had extraordinary impact is thermal radiation,duct- and tube-ﬂow heat transfer, natural convection,and high-speed-ﬂow heat transfer.
Professor EckertÕs professional presence dominated theﬁeld of heat transfer for the main part of the twentieth century. This dominance stemmed from his command of ideas,
from his uncanny ability to identify fruitful directions of research, and from his leadership which motivated others toassist him in the implementation of the research. In retirement, he lives with grace and dignity, as he did during hisprofessional years.
On the occasion of his 100th birthday and on behalf of
his many colleagues, friends, former students, and theworld-wide heat transfer community, we would like to wish
Professor Ernest R.G. Eckert good health and happiness inthe years to come.
W.J. Minkowycz
University of Illinois at Chicago,
Department of Mechanical Engineering (M/C 251),
842 West Taylor Street,
Room 2049 ERF,
Chicago, IL 60607-7022,
United States
Tel.: +1 312 996 3467; fax: +1 312 413 0447
E-mail address: wjm@uic:edu
E.M. Sparrow
R.J. Goldstein
W.E. Ibele
E. Pfender
P.L. Blackshear Jr.
Available online 5 December 2005