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Van Vlack & Dow
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January 21 marked the passing of Lawrence Van Vlack, emeritus professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Born July 21, 1920, in Atlantic, Iowa, he earned his BSE degree from Iowa State University in 1942 and went to work at U. S. Steel, Inc. He served in the U. S. Navy from 1949-1950, then earned his PhD at the University of Chicago.
In 1953, he joined what was then called the Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at Michigan. A respected administrator, he served with distinction as department chair from 1967 to 1970, before organizing and chairing a new department relating to materials and metallurgical engineering. It was as an educator, though, that he earned his national reputation.
Van Vlack coordinated the accreditation of the U. S.’s oldest existing undergraduate curriculum in materials science and established the initial U. S. graduate program in the science of engineering materials. He also authored 11 books, including the most famous text in the field—Elements of Materials Science and Engineering—used by more than a million engineering students worldwide.
“There is no doubt that his books defined the field of materials science for many generations of students,” said Dawn Bonnell (BSE MM ’83, MSE ’84, PhD ’86), now an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, but once a student of Van Vlack. “Recent developments in education technology may have changed the presentation of concepts, but a close look shows that the substance comes directly from his books. It is hardly possible to imagine the impact he has had on thousands of now-practicing materials scientists.”
In recognition of Van Vlack’s many achievements, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Ceramics Society, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the American Society of Metals awarded him the status of Fellow. Noted James Shackelford, associate dean of the College of Engineering at the University of California-Davis and a colleague of Van Vlack, “he was the epitome of the gentleman scholar.”
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William Dow (MSE ’29), an emeritus professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, died October 17 at the age of 104. Dow taught Electrical Engineering from 1938 to 1965 and served as department chair from 1960 to 1965. He was also the key driver behind the establishment of the Computer Engineering and Nuclear Engineering programs at Michigan, the first of their kind in the nation.
Long after his retirement, he was a regular feature at U-M, holding weekly lunch meetings with colleagues at the North Campus commons. His 100th birthday was marked by a two-day celebration on campus.
“He was a very personable, kind man,” said George Haddad, the Robert J. Hiller Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, who earned his master’s and PhD degrees under Dow in the late 1950s. “He really loved to promote good people. He was about the most unselfish person I’ve ever known.”
During his years of service to the College of Engineering, Dow was responsible for creating and organizing 13 laboratories and research units, including Space Physics Research, Plasma Engineering, and the Cooley Electronics Laboratories. He co-founded the Willow Run Laboratories (now the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan) and created a new U-M unit to administer research grants. He also served on a panel of scientists who helped form NASA in the late 1950s.
A native of Faribault, Minnesota, Dow received his BS from the University of Minnesota in 1916 and his EE in 1917. His MSE degree was completed at Michigan in 1929, and he was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1980 from the University of Colorado. He was also a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.