Acrivos Dissertation Award Established

In April, the APS Council approved the establishment of a new dissertation award to honor the many outstanding contributions to fluid mechanics of Andreas Acrivos, particularly his years of distinguished editorship of Physics of Fluids. It is supported by donations from members and friends of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics. The division expects to make the first award in 2000.

Consisting of $1,000 and a certificate citing the accomplishments of the recipient, the award is intended to provide recognition to exceptional young scientists who have performed original doctoral thesis work of outstanding scientific quality and achievement in the area of fluid dynamics. As with most APS prizes and awards, up to $500 is available for travel to enable the recipient to attend the annual meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics at which the award will be presented. Any doctoral student studying at a college or university in the U.S., or in an education abroad program of a college or university in the U.S., is eligible to apply. The work to be considered must have been accomplished as part of the requirements for a doctoral degree.

Born in Athens, Greece, Acrivos earned his PhD in 1954 from the University of Minnesota, and promptly joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley's Department of Chemical Engineering. He moved to Stanford University in 1962, where he has been professor emeritus since 1988. He is presently the Albert Einstein Professor of Science and Engineering at the City College of New York, as well as director of the Benjamin Levich Institute for Physiochemical Hydrodynamics. His research interests include fundamental problems in fluid mechanics, the effective properties of two-phase materials, suspension rheology, and sedimentation. A two-time Guggenheim Fellow and long-standing editor of Physics of Fluids, Acrivos received the 1991 APS Fluid Dynamics Prize for his work in fluid mechanics.