Joel Henry Ferziger, a recognized authority in the fields of thermodynamics and fluid mechanics both in the US and abroad, and professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at Stanford University, died of pancreatic cancer at a hospital in Stanford on 16 August 2004.
Joel was born on 24 March 1937 in Brooklyn, New York. When he was 16 years old, he entered the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City, where he received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1957. He subsequently enrolled in the nuclear engineering program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and earned a master’s degree in 1959 and a doctorate in 1962. Joel and his doctoral adviser, Paul Zweifel, turned his dissertation “The Theory of Neutron Slowing Down in Nuclear Reactors,” into a book of the same title (Pergamon Press) in 1966.
At age 24, Joel became a member of the Stanford University faculty; he remained there the rest of his career, although he was a visiting professor at Queen Mary, University of London, in 1979. At his retirement party four months before he died, he told his colleagues, “This has been my dream job for 43 years. I cannot imagine wanting to do anything else. If I were independently wealthy, I probably would have done it for free.”
During the first decade of his career, Joel rose to prominence in the areas of neutron transport theory and radiation transport theory and their applications. In 1972 he and Hans G. Kaper wrote Mathematical Theory of Transport Processes in Gases (North-Holland, 1972).
Beginning in the 1970s, he turned his attention to computational fluid dynamics and turbulence and became internationally known for his innovative work in developing computer simulations to model complex turbulent flows. A self-described “numerical experimentalist,” Joel believed, and taught, that to do computer simulations rigorously, it is also necessary to develop new numerical methods. With William C. Reynolds, he pioneered the large-eddy simulation method, which made computation of turbulent flows at large Reynolds numbers possible. Much of Joel’s research focused on developing the theoretical underpinnings and the subgrid-scale closure models so critical to the success of that approach. His work in 1983 with Reynolds and Jorge Bardina led to a new approach to the modeling of subgrid-scale motions; their scale-similarity model underpins most of the modern closure models. In addition, Joel’s work contributed greatly to advances in aircraft engine design and combustion.
Joel received numerous honors during his career, including a Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 1987 and the 1991 Max Planck Research Prize, which was presented by the Humboldt Foundation and the Max Planck Society.
Joel wrote more than 100 archival journal articles and several textbooks, including Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics with Milovan Perić (Springer, 1996). The first (1981) and second (1998) editions of his Numerical Methods for Engineering Application (Wiley) are likely to be found on the desks or bookshelves of many engineering faculty and students. Joel’s course on numerical methods at Stanford was very popular, not only for mechanical engineering students but also for those in other engineering disciplines.
In addition to his contributions to engineering, Joel was known for his passion for gourmet cooking and wines. He put those interests to use during the frequent gatherings he hosted for his students, family, and friends. He loved to explore other countries, but often returned to his apartment in Paris. He was devoted to his wife, Eva, his daughters, and his beloved grandchildren.
When Joel gave us copies of his books, he often inscribed them with words such as, “To a great friend and colleague.” Back at you, Joel!
