Jerome L. Sackman, CEE faculty member for 31 years and leading authority in structural mechanics, died on Dec. 8. He was 87.
Jerome Sackman joined CEE in 1960 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to full Professor in 1966 and served in that role until he retired in 1991. Upon retirement, Professor Sackman was selected, after an extensive national search, as the Program Director of the National Science Foundation's new Division of Mechanical and Structural Systems.
Professor Sackman was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1992. He received the Berkeley Citation, the University's highest distinction, in 1996. In 1994, ASCE honored him with its highest award, the Nathan M. Newmark Medal, for substantially strengthening the scientific base of structural engineering.
Jerome Sackman received his doctorate from Columbia University in 1959. While a student at Columbia, he received a two-year Guggenheim Fellowship.
Professor Sackman's gained international renown as one of the outstanding practitioners in structural mechanics. He was the authority in the identification of viscoelastic and other mechanical characteristics of structural elements—critical domains of knowledge with applications to a huge and diverse series of problems ranging from propellants to composite materials and structural integrity.
He had the reputation of being an outstanding and dedicated teacher, as well as a person who gave generously of his time and counsel to colleagues, younger faculty, students, collaborators, and within professional societies. In his Citation nomination, it was said that "Professor Sackman placed the welfare of the University, its students and his colleagues above all other considerations."
"He was a superb human being with the highest human values," said CEE Professor Emeritus Armen Der Kiureghian, "He has a tremendous legacy at Berkeley as well as the community at large."
The Sackman family will hold a memorial for Professor Sackman in the spring.