Nathan M. Newmark

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Nathan Mortimore Newmark
IStructE Gold Medal
National Medal of Science (1968)
John Fritz Medal
(1979)

Nathan Mortimore Newmark (September 22, 1910 – January 25, 1981) was an American

academic, who is widely considered one of the founding fathers of earthquake engineering. He was awarded the National Medal of Science
for engineering.

Early life

Newmark was born in Plainfield, New Jersey to a Jewish couple, Abraham and Mollie Newmark. After receiving his early education in North Carolina and New Jersey, he went on to attend Rutgers University. Newmark graduated from Rutgers in 1930 earning high honors and special honors in civil engineering. He married Anne Cohen in 1931.

Newmark then attended

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he worked under Hardy Cross, Harold M. Westergaard, and Frank E. Richart
.

At the University of Illinois

In 1932 he received a

professor emeritus
. Under his leadership, the program at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign soared to new heights. The civil engineering laboratory on campus now bears his name.

Newmark was the advisor or coadvisor of the following students who completed their Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Graduate College, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign:[1]

  • Appleton, J. H., (1959)
  • Au, T., (1951)
  • Auld, H. E., (1967)
  • Austin, W. J., (1949)
  • Badir, M., (1948)
  • Brooks, J. A., (1955)
  • Bultmann, E. H., Jr., (1968)
  • Bustamante, J. I., (1964)
  • Chan, S. P., (1953)
  • Chen, T. Y., (1954)
  • Collins, R. A., (1958)
  • Cowan, B. M., (1968)
  • Cox, H. L., (1953)
  • Daigh, J. D., (1957)
  • D'Appolonia, E., (1948)
  • Dorris, A. F., (1965)
  • Duberg, J. E., (1948)
  • Egger, W., Jr., (1960)
  • Eppink, R. T., (1960)
  • Fisher, W. E., (1962)
  • Francy, W. J., (1954)
  • Friedericy, J. A., (1960)
  • Fuller, J. R., (1955)
  • Fulton, R. E., (1960)
  • Gaus, M. P., (1959)
  • Gossard, M. L., (1949)
  • Gurfinkel, G. R., (1966)
  • Hall, W. J., (1954)
  • Haltiwanger, J. D., (1957)
  • Hammer, J. G., (1954)
  • Hanley, J. T., (1963)
  • Harper, G. N., (1963)
  • Harris, L. A., (1954)
  • Heer, J. E., Jr., (1965)
  • Howland, F. L., (1955)
  • Iten, R. M., (1968)
  • Jennings, R. L., (1964)
  • Jester, G. E., (1968)
  • Johnson, S. W., (1964)
  • Laupa, A., (1953)
  • Lee, D. H., (1951)
  • Lee, Z. K., (1950)
  • Lemcoe, M. M., (1957)
  • Lycan, D. L., (1960)
  • Massard, J. M., (1955)
  • Mayerjak, R. J., (1955)
  • McDonough, G. F., Jr., (1959)
  • Melin, J. W., (1961)
  • Merritt, J. L., Jr., (1958)
  • Murtha, J. P., (1961)
  • Nakhata, T., (1973)
  • Pan, S. L., (1951)
  • Patterson, G. J., (1969)
  • Paul, S. L., (1963)
  • Pinckert, R. E., (1966)
  • Radler, C. M., (1963)
  • Randall, P. N., (1948)
  • Richart, F. E., Jr., (1948)
  • Robinson, A. R., (1956)
  • Rosenblueth, E., (1951)
  • Schmidt, R., (1956)
  • Schnobrich, W. C., (1962)
  • Schutz, F. W., Jr., (1952)
  • Shaw, W. A., (1962)
  • Siess, C. P., (1948)
  • Smith, R. H., (1958)
  • Stallmeyer, J. E., (1953)
  • Stephens, H. E., (1954)
  • Stockdale, W. K., (1959)
  • Sutcliffe, S., (1960)
  • Thibodeaux, M. h., (1958)
  • Townsley, E. S., (1959)
  • Tung, C. P. C., (1951)
  • Untrauer, R. E., (1961)
  • Vaughan, R. G., (1966)
  • Veletsos, A. S., (1953)
  • Wah, T., (1953)
  • Walls, W. A., (1960)
  • Wang, C. K., (1945)
  • Weggel, J. R., (1968)
  • Wei, C. F., (1951)
  • Weil, N. A., (1952)
  • Whipple, C. R., (1961)
  • Wu, G. S., (1954)
  • Wu, T. S., (1952)
  • Yao, W. M., (1957)
  • Yegian, S., (1956)
  • Yoshihara, T., (1963)
  • Yuan, H. K., (1951)
  • Zwoyer, E. M., (1953)

Achievements

During World War II Newmark consulted for the

MX missile
systems.

In 1959, Newmark introduced what became known as the

Finite element analysis. He later helped to develop the first digital computers, the ILLIAC II, which was one of the first transistorized
computers. It was also designed to use transistors that were not even invented yet. The ILLIAC-II eventually led to the development of computer software for engineering.

Another of Newmark's achievements was the

Alaskan Natural Gas Pipeline, and about 70 nuclear power plants
.

Throughout his career Newmark developed a simple, yet powerful and widely used method for analyzing complex structural components and assemblies under a variety of conditions of loading and for calculating the

studies on the effect of earthquakes
on structures, he had the ideal background to tackle such a revolutionary feat.

Newmark also made significant contributions to geotechnical engineering. He developed a new method, named after him (Newmark's sliding block method) [3] of calculating displacements in earth dams and slopes due to earthquakes. His work was acknowledged with an invitation to deliver the 5th Rankine Lecture of the British Geotechnical Association, entitled Effects of earthquakes on dams and embankments.

The American Concrete Institute awarded Newmark the Wason Medal for Most Meritorious Paper in 1950.[4] In 1968, he was recipient of the National Medal of Science for Engineering Sciences. He was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1962),[5] and received the 1979 John Fritz Medal and several other awards. The American Society of Civil Engineers has named a medal after him, which is awarded "to a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers who, through contributions in structural mechanics, has helped substantially to strengthen the scientific base of structural engineering."[6] In 1964 he contributed to the founding the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and two years later became a member of National Academy of Sciences (NAS).[7][8]

Hardy Cross

Hardy Cross, who Newmark worked under at the University of Illinois in Urbana, developed the moment distribution method. It enabled designers to calculate statically indeterminate frames of reinforced concrete. Newmark looked up to Cross; in Cross's book Arches, Continuous Frames, Columns and Conduits, Newmark wrote the introduction, in which he tells how much he enjoyed the classes taught by Cross and how they would sometimes walk home together after classes and discuss engineering principles.

References

  1. ^ Structural and Geotechnical Mechanics: A Volume Honoring Nathan M. Newmark, Editor: W. J. Hall, 1977
  2. ^ Newmark, N. M. (1959) A method of computation for structural dynamics. Journal of Engineering Mechanics, ASCE, 85 (EM3) 67-94.
  3. ^ Newmark, N. M. (1965) Effects of earthquakes on dams and embankments. Geotechnique, 15 (2) 139-160.
  4. ^ "Wason Medal for Most Meritorious Paper". American Concrete Institute. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  5. ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter N" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
  6. ^ American Society of Civil Engineers. "Nathan M. Newmark Medal". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
  7. ^ "Founding members of the National Academy of Engineering". National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
  8. ^ Richard G. Weingardt, P.E. (2005). Engineering Legends.

External links

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