6/26/2012 By Kathryn L. Heine
Written by By Kathryn L. Heine
Professor Sehitoglu is an international authority in the area of deformation and fatigue of materials under complex thermal and stress-induced loadings. A Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, he received the society's Nadai Medal in 2007, for significant contributions and outstanding achievements in the field of materials engineering. He has served as the editor of ASME's Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology since 2003.
Sehitoglu received Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in theoretical and applied mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1983 and 1981 respectively, and a B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering from the City University, London, in 1979. After joining the former Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering as an assistant professor in 1983, he rose through the ranks to full professor in 1992. During his 25 years as a faculty member at Illinois, he served as the Director of Mechanics and Materials for the National Science Foundation, was a visiting professor at The Johns Hopkins University, and was honored with two named professorships. He was named the Grayce Wicall Gauthier Professor in 2000 and the C.J. Gauthier Professor in 2004.
The author of more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, he has received numerous awards, including the Best Presentation Award from the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) in 2003, the Marcus Grossman Award from the American Society for Metals International in 1998, and a Research Initiation Award from the National Science Foundation in 1984. He will be the ASTM E-08 Fatigue Lecturer in 2009.
The John, Alice, and Sarah Nyquist Endowed Chair in Mechanical Science and Engineering was established earlier this year by John D. and Alice Schmidt Nyquist and their daughter, Sarah, to recognize expertise and outstanding ability, and to encourage further eminence in the field.
John D. Nyquist earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1941. He joined Collins Radio Company, later Rockwell Collins, as an engineer, and rose through the ranks of management. In 1964, he was named Senior Vice President and General Manager for the company's largest operating unit in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with full responsibility for operations, research and development, fiscal affairs, and marketing programs. He served on the company's Board of Directors, received the American Institute of Industrial Engineers Award for outstanding achievement in management in 1966, and retired in 1973. A Life Member of the University of Illinois Alumni Association, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (now MechSE) in 1969, and the College of Engineering Alumni Award for Distinguished Service in 1977. He was elected to his first term on the M&IE Alumni Board in 1969, and served as the Board President in 1974.
Alice Schmidt Nyquist graduated from Midwest College of Commerce and began her career in 1938 at the Iowa Mutual Insurance Company in Cedar Rapids. She and her husband have been very active in civic affairs in the Cedar Rapids area. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Cedar Rapids YMCA, the Chamber of Commerce, the Peoples Bank and Trust Company, and St. Luke's Hospital, where she served as a volunteer. Their daughter, Sarah, also retired from Rockwell Collins, lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.