Norman Dowling named Frank J. Maher Professor
Norman Dowling of Blacksburg, professor of engineering science and mechanics and materials science and engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been awarded the Frank J. Maher Professorship in Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
Virginia Tech alumnus Bruce Vorhauer, who received his bachelor’s degree in engineering mechanics in 1964, endowed the professorship in honor of Frank Maher, who received a master’s degree in civil engineering in 1937, a professor in Virginia Tech’s department of engineering mechanics, now called the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1983, Dowling currently conducts research on fatigue, facture, and deformation; damping in concrete; statistical and deterministic characterization of loading; life-prediction for complex loadings; and biomechanics and biomaterials. His book, “Mechanical Behavior of Materials: Engineering methods for Deformation, Fracture, and Fatigue,” has been widely adopted and often cited. His text is used in more than 50 engineering programs in the United States and universities abroad.
He has co-authored a laboratory manual, a chapter in another book, Volume 19 in the “Handbook of the American Society of Materials International,” more than 60 articles in journals and proceedings, and numerous reports. His research has been supported by the United States Navy, Air Force and Army; NASA, and many companies; the total support on all projects is approximately $2.5 million.
Dowling is a Fellow of the American Society of Testing Materials and has received the Award of Merit and an Outstanding Achievement Award from that organization. He is serving, or has served on the Editorial board of the Journal of ASTM International, Journal of Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, International Journal of Fatigue, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology.
Dowling received his bachelor’s degree from Clemson University and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.
