National Academy of Engineering Elects Two Pitt Faculty

February 26, 2003

PITTSBURGH—A radon pioneer and a leader in fracture mechanics and technology transfer between industry and academia are the two University of Pittsburgh faculty members elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), which last week selected 77 new members and nine foreign associates.

Honorees are emeritus professors Bernard L. Cohen and Max L. Williams.

Election to NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer. It honors individuals who have pioneered new fields or advanced traditional fields of engineering, implemented innovative approaches to engineering education, or contributed to engineering theory and practice, including significant contributions to the literature of engineering theory and practice.

The two Pitt professors bring Pitt's total NAE membership to six.

A Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Bernard L. Cohen held adjunct positions in the School of Engineering and the Graduate School of Public Health before retiring in 1994.

Cohen, who developed one of the first radon detectors, was recognized for "fundamental contributions to our understanding of low-level radiation," according to NAE. Cohen also was the recipient of the 1981 Thomas W. Bonner Prize from the American Physical Society. He was recognized for outstanding experimental research in nuclear physics.

He earned the Bachelor of Science degree at Case Western Reserve University, the Master of Science degree in physics at Pitt, and the Doctor of Science degree at Carnegie Mellon University.

Max L. Williams, Distinguished Service Professor and former dean of Pitt's School of Engineering retired in 1990.

Williams was recognized for "fundamental developments in fracture mechanics and for providing guidance to industry and government that has facilitated technology transfer," according to NAE.

Williams earned the Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering degree at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, and the Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology. Williams served as dean of Pitt's School of Engineering from 1973 to 1985.

Other Pitt members of NAE are: Marwan A. Simaan, Bell of PA/Bell Atlantic Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering; Jerome Schultz, Distinguished University Professor of Bioengineering and Medicine, professor of chemical engineering, and director of Pitt's Center for Biotechnology and Bioengineering; Savio L-Y. Woo, A.B. Ferguson Professor and vice chair for research at the Musculoskeletal Research Center in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, a professor in the departments of bioengineering and mechanical engineering in Pitt's School of Engineering, and professor of rehabilitation science and technology in Pitt's School of Medicine; and Frederick G. Pohland, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Edward R. Weidlein chair of environmental engineering and director of Pitt's Dominion Center for Energy and the Environment.

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