Brown Engineering Alumni H. David Hibbitt Ph.D. ’72 and Enrique Lavernia ’82 Elected to the National Academy of Engineering

Brown University engineering alumni H. David Hibbitt Ph.D. ’72 and Enrique Lavernia ’82 have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Hibbitt, founder and retired chairman of ABAQUS Inc. (now known as Dassault Systèmes Simulia Corp.), was honored for creation and development of the ABAQUS finite element code for nonlinear structural analysis and its worldwide dissemination. He is one of 11 new foreign associates elected.

“I have been truly fortunate in having so many talented colleagues who chose to join our efforts, so I view this award as coming to me as the representative of that team,” said Hibbitt. “It is a great honor for us all. It is the outcome of work by an amazingly strong team of applied mechanics people, mathematicians, and computer scientists, all working together to deliver the Abaqus software suite. Several others in that team also came from Brown Engineering, including Paul Sorensen ’71 Sc.M.’75 Ph.D.’77, Joop Nagtegaal Ph.D. ’73, David Berman ’84 Sc.M.’85, Mark Bohm ’84, and David Reynolds Sc.M.’91 Ph.D.’93.”

Lavernia, Dean of the College of Engineering, and Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at University of California, Davis, was recognized for contributions to novel processing of metals and alloys, and for leadership in engineering education. He is one of 69 new members elected. The total U.S. membership is now 2,250 members and the number of foreign associates is now 211.

“This is a spectacular achievement for David and Enrique and we are extremely happy for them,” said Dean Larry Larson. “To have two alumni elected in one year from Brown is a wonderful accomplishment.”

Maurice Herlihy, professor of computer science at Brown, was also elected to the NAE this year for concurrent computing techniques for linearizability, non-blocking data structures, and transactional memory.

Michael Ortiz, who was a professor at Brown from 1984-1995 and is now a professor at California Institute of Technology, was elected for contributions to computational mechanics to advance the underpinnings of solid mechanics.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature,” and to the “pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

Hibbitt and Lavernia join an exclusive group of 12 Brown engineering alumni already in the NAE that includes: Walter J. Weber ’56 (elected 1985), William F. Allen ’41 (elected 1986), T. Dixon Dudderar PhD’66 (elected 1992), Wai-Fah Chen PhD’66 (elected 1995), George J. Dvorak (elected 1995), Marc S. Newkirk ’69 (elected 1997), Hratch Gregory Semerjian Sc.M.’68 Ph.D.’72 (elected 2000), Chain T. Liu Sc.M.’64 Ph.D.’67 (elected 2004), Robert M. McMeeking PhD’75 (elected 2005), Jean-Yves Parlange Ph.D.’62 (elected 2006), Alan I. Taub ’76 (elected 2006), and Ares J. Rosakis ScM’80 PhD’83 (elected 2011).

Ten current or former Brown engineering faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, including Huajian Gao, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Engineering, who was elected in 2012. Other members include: Vice President for Research and Otis Randall University Professor Clyde Briant (elected 2010), Subra Suresh (elected 2002), Professor Emeritus Alan Needleman (elected 2000), Professor Emeritus L.B. Freund (elected 1994), Rush C. Hawkins University Professor Rod Clifton (elected 1989), Joseph Kestin (elected 1982), James R. Rice (elected 1980), Daniel C. Drucker (elected 1967), and William Prager (elected 1965).