Dr. John Tinsley Oden, who holds the Cockrell Family Regents’ Chair #2 in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Cracow (Krakow) University of Technology in Poland.
Dr. Oden was selected as a candidate for “Doctor Honoris Causa” on the basis of his outstanding achievements in the field of engineering research. He is a renowned authority in computational mathematics and specializes in researching the finite element method and its mathematical foundations. Dr. Oden describes the finite element method as a powerful method for solving mathematical models of natural phenomena and engineering systems. It has been developed over the last three or four decades according to Oden, as a systematic and mathematically rigorous method of transforming the equations governing scientific theories into a form that can be handled by digital computers.
In addition to his work with this method, Dr. Oden has authored or co-authored 24 books and 54 book chapters on computational mechanics, applied mechanics, variational methods and the finite element method, as well as many journal publications. In 1972, Oden’s treatise, “Finite Elements on Nonlinear Continua,” was translated into several foreign languages.
He has also worked with many young researchers from all over the world and has supervised the completion of 31 masters’ degrees and 39 Ph.D.s, as well as many post-doctoral research fellows.
He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow and past president of the American Academy of Mechanics and the Society of Engineering Science. Additionally, he is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the British Institute for Mathematics and Applications. He is a founding member and past president of both the International and U.S. Associations for Computational Mechanics. Dr. Oden is also the founder and director of the Texas Institute for Computational and Applied Mathematics.
Dr. Oden was presented with the doctorate in an elaborate ceremony on June 25 in Cracow, Poland. A reception followed the event and Oden’s name was later inscribed on a wall in the administration building at the university.
“I feel extremely proud and honored,” says Dr. Oden of his achievement.
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