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Howard K. Birnbaum, materials expert at University of Illinois, dies at age 72
James E. Kloeppel, Physical Sciences Editor
217 244-1073; kloeppel@illinois.edu
1/25/2005
CHAMPAIGN,
Ill. — Howard K. Birnbaum, an expert in the science of materials
who developed new concepts to prevent materials from failing, died Sunday
(Jan. 23) at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Ill. A professor emeritus
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Birnbaum was 72 years
old and had lived in Champaign.
Birnbaum was internationally recognized for his work on mechanical deformation
and plastic flow in materials and how these processes are influenced
by hydrogen. He is credited with establishing one of the fundamental
mechanisms of hydrogen-induced degradation of materials.
“Howard’s contributions to science and engineering extend
well beyond the 280 scientific papers he published,” said Ian
Robertson, the head of the department of materials
sciences and engineering at Illinois. “He was a mentor and
teacher for his many graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty
colleagues, and was an articulate spokesperson and advocate for the
broad discipline of materials science and engineering.”
Birnbaum developed a fundamental understanding of the complex effects
of dissolved hydrogen on the deformation and fracture of metals. He
demonstrated that three different fracture mechanisms were responsible
for the environmentally related fracture – known as hydrogen embrittlement
– of many modern materials systems. His research spawned new approaches
to allow design and utilization in order to avoid environmental failure.
“Howard’s work often produced new interpretations of phenomena,
and he had to convince the scientific community to accept his new models,”
Robertson said. “This he did with remarkable skill: He could disagree
vehemently with opponents, but always with a sense of humor so that
they remained his friends. He was a true scholar.”
Birnbaum received his bachelor’s degree in 1953, his master’s
degree in metallurgy in 1955 from Columbia University and his doctorate,
also in metallurgy, in 1958 from Illinois. He began teaching at the
University of Chicago in 1958 and joined the Illinois faculty as a professor
of metallurgical engineering in 1961. He served as the director of the
Department of Energy’s Frederick
Seitz Materials Research Laboratory on the Illinois campus from
1987 until 1999.
Birnbaum received numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship,
the Mehl Gold Medal from the American Institute of Metallurgical Engineering,
and the von Hippel Award from the Materials Research Society. For the
von Hippel Award, Birnbaum was cited for his “seminal contributions
to our understanding of intrinsic point defects, hydrogen in metals,
and grain boundary segregation, especially as these effects relate to
mechanical properties. He has also stimulated, directed, and influenced
interdisciplinary research throughout the materials community.”
He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society,
the Materials Society and the American Society for Metals, and a member
of the National Academy of Engineering.
Birnbaum was born Oct. 18, 1932, in Brooklyn. He is survived by his
wife, Freda Silber, whom he married in 1954. Also surviving are three
children, Elisa, Scott and Shari; his sister Sybil Licht; and four grandchildren.
