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In Memoriam:
Tung-Hua Lin, Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental
Engineering |
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中文版 |
Tung-Hua Lin, a
professor emeritus at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of
Engineering and Applied Science who was a major contributor to
the safety of building materials and a pioneer in China’s
aviation history, died on June 18 of heart failure. He was 96.
“Professor Lin was a true inspiration to me,” said William W-G.
Yeh, UCLA distinguished professor of civil and environmental
engineering and Lin’s friend and colleague of nearly 40 years.
“After his retirement, he continued to come to his office to
work with his PhD students and post-docs, all the way until his
passing. His presence in the department and his continued high
level of outstanding research that spans over six decades have
provided a model for all of us to emulate.”
Lin was born in China in 1911. He earned his bachelor’s degree
in civil engineering in 1933 from JiaoTong University. Following
graduation, he was one of a select group of Chinese students to
earn a highly competitive fellowship to study in the United
States. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
earning a master’s degree in 1936.
After MIT, Lin spent a year working at several U.S. aerospace
firms, including Wright Aeronautical of New Jersey, the Glenn E.
Martin Company in Baltimore and Vultee Aircraft (predecessor to
General Dynamics.).
He returned to China in 1937 to work as a professor at TsingHua
University in Beijing. Due to the war with Japan, he eventually
took a position with the Chinese Air Force to design and build
warplanes for the country.
He was first asked to refurbish Italian- and Soviet-made planes.
But as World War II continued, much of the Chinese fleet was
destroyed by the faster Japanese Zeros. By the middle of the
war, Lin’s work turned from keeping old planes flyable, to
constructing China’s own planes from scratch. With only his
memory of aeronautics and a few American textbooks, Lin designed
and led the building of the first twin-engine airplane made in
China – a wooden bomber-turned-transport craft called the
C-0101.
Without any wind tunnel tests, Lin flew on the plane’s maiden
voyage. It was a success and the workers and villagers watching
the event cheered when it flew by.
“I told him to fly lower so it would look faster,” Lin recalled
telling the pilot for a 1991 Los Angeles Times story about the
accomplishment. “The workers felt really great. They thought the
plane was very good because it was so fast.”
Lin returned to the United States with his wife and three
children in 1949.
Lin earned his D.Sc. from the University of Michigan in 1953. He
joined UCLA Engineering in 1955 as a visiting professor and
became a full professor the following year.
At UCLA Engineering, Lin made significant contributions to the
safety of building materials. Lin derived an analytical method
that predicts the soundness of metal structures in airplanes,
buildings and bridges. Lin’s method allowed engineers to predict
how stress and strain will affect structures under various
circumstances, including differing temperatures and loading
conditions. He also made important contributions to the study of
composite materials and the micromechanics of metals.
“Professor Lin’s research has led to much safer buildings,
structures, aircrafts and other vehicles throughout the world,”
said Jiann-Wen Woody Ju, UCLA professor of civil and
environmental engineering. “The methods he invented will keep
his memory alive for generations of engineers from many
disciplines.”
Lin retired from UCLA in 1978, but continued to be active in
research and teaching.
In 1988, the American Society of Civil Engineers awarded Lin its
Theodore von Karman medal, given for distinguished achievement
in engineering mechanics. He was elected to the National Academy
of Engineering in 1990, the highest professional honor awarded
to an American engineer. In 2001, a Gingko tree was planted in
front of UCLA’s Boelter Hall to commemorate his 90th birthday.
Lin is survived by his daughter Rita a retired school teacher;
son Robert, a physics professor at UC Berkeley; son James, a
mathematics professor at UC San Diego; four grandchildren and
one great grandchild. He was preceded in death by his wife Ruiyi.
Lin remarried to En Yu (Diana) last year.
Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, July 21 at Forest
Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Dr., Los
Angeles, 90068. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Funeral Services will be held on the same day at 2:30 p.m. in
Old North Church on the Forest Lawn grounds.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made
to the Professor T.H. Lin Scholarship Endowment for a UCLA Civil
and Environmental Engineering student. Checks can be made out
to: “UCLA Engineering” with “T.H. Lin Scholarship Endowment” in
the memo line. They can be sent to the Office of External
Affairs, 6266 Boelter Hall, Box 951600 Los Angeles, CA
90095-1600. Phone: Ext 6-0678.
06.25.07
-M. Chin |
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