Inr. J. HeatMass Tmsfir

Vol.17.~~1423-1424PcrgamonPress
1974.Prmtedin Great Bntain

LAUDATIO
E. R. G. ECKERT-SEVENTYBEHALF of the Editors,
the Honorary
Editorial
Advisory Board and the Publisher we extend special
greetings to Professor E. R. G. Eckert on the occasionof his seventieth birthday.
Professor Eckert was born on September 13, 1904 inPrague, Czechoslovakia.
He attended
the German
Institute of Technology
in Prague, obtaining
theDiploma Ingenieur in 1927 and the Dr. Ing. in 1931.
He remained at Prague as an assistant in the Instituteuntil 1935 when he moved to Danzig where hecompletedhis habilitation
under the tutelage ofProfessor Ernst Schmidt. In 1938 Dr. Eckert followed
Professor Schmidt to Braunschweig where he assumed
the post of docent at the Institute of Technology andsection chief at the Aeronautical Research Establishment. In 1943 Professor Eckert returned to Prague toaccept the Chair of Thermodynamics
at the German
Institute ofTechnology but retaining his position at theAeronautical
Research Institute. He served in both
capacities until the end of the war.
ON

Professor Eckert came to the United States in 1945
and for the next four years was associated with thePower Plant Laboratory at Wright Air Force Base,Dayton, Ohio. In 1949 he joined Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory of the National Advisory Committeefor Aeronautics in Cleveland, Ohio, as a consultant
to the Compressor and Turbine Division.
In 1951 Dr. Eckert returned to the academic life ofteaching, research and writing at the University ofMinnesota as Professor of Mechanical Engineering. In
1955 he was named Director of the Thermodynamics
and Heat Transfer Division and the Heat Transfer
Laboratory. In 1966 the University bestowed its highest
honor on Dr. Eckert by naming him Regents’ Professorof Mechanical Engineering.
His research papers, which number over 300, and his
textbooks on heat and mass transfer are widely known
and need no elaboration
here. He received the Max
Jakob medal in 1961 in recognition of these major
scientific contributions.
He is also the recipient of1423
HMTVol

17.No I?- A

YEARS

1424

J. P. HARTNETT.
T. F. IRVINE.
JR. und W. J. MINKOWYCL

honorary doctorates from the Technical University at
Munich. Purdue University, and the University ofManchester as well as a gold medal bestowed by theFrench Institute for Energy and Fuel.
In additionto his pioneering
contributions
inresearch Professor Eckert has achieved an outstanding
reputation as a teacher. Undergraduates
as well as
graduate students have enjoyed the benefits of Dr.
Eckert’s lecturing and guidance over the past quarter
century. Over forty students have studied for the Ph.D.
degree under his tutelage and his commitment to education has led the majority of these former students into
university positions.
It is especially fitting that we take note of thecritical role Professor Eckert has played in fostering
cooperation among heat transfer scientists throughout
the world, recognizingthat such cooperationisimportant not only for science but for international
understanding
as well. He was a founder of theInternational Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer andhas served as Chairman of the Editorial Advisory
Board from the beginning. He is Co-chairmanof theEditorial Advisory Board of Heat Transfer-Soviet
Research and Heat Transfer-Japanese
Research. TheInternational Heat Transfer Conferences and the International Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer are bothindebted to Professor Eckert for his key efforts inmoving them from the conceptual stage to their current
central roles on the international
scene. As Presidentof the Scientific Council of the International Centre for
Heat and Mass Transfer he continues to promoteinternational cooperation.
We should also like to mention that Professor Eckert
is not only an exceptional scientist and teacher witha strong sense of the international
nature of science,but in addition, he is a warm, gentle, good-humoredhuman being. He has been ably supported over many
years by his lively and charming wife, Josephine Binder
Eckert. We are sure we speak for the editors, theEditorial Advisory Board, the students, colleagues andfriends of Professor E. R. G. Eckert from all over theworld when we wish him a most happy seventiethbirthday and many more happy and healthy returnsof the day.
J. P. HARTNETT
T. F. IRVINE,JR.
W. J. MINKOWYCZ