Howard Wilson Emmons
Howard Wilson Emmons (1912–1998) was an
American professor in the department of Mechanical Howard Wilson Emmons
Engineering at Harvard University.[1] During his career Born August 30, 1912
he conducted original research on fluid mechanics, Morristown, New Jersey
combustion and fire safety. Today he is most widely Died November 20, 1998
known for his pioneering work in the field of fire (aged 86)
safety engineering. He has been called "the father of Boston
modern fire science" for his contribution to the Alma mater Stevens Institute of
understanding of flame propagation and fire Technology
dynamics.[2] He also helped design the first supersonic Harvard University
wind tunnel, identified a signature of the transition to
Known for Emmons problem
turbulence in boundary layer flows (now known as
"Emmons spots"), and was the first to observe Scientific career
compressor stall in a gas turbine compressor (still a Fields Fluid dynamics
major item of research today).[3] He initiated studies Combustion
on diffusion flames inside a boundary layer, and Institutions Westinghouse Electric
Emmons problem is named after him. He was Company
eventually awarded the Timoshenko Medal by the University of Pennsylvania
American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Harvard University
1968 Sir Alfred Egerton Gold Medal from The Thesis The drop condensation of
Combustion Institute. vapors (1938)
Upon Professor Emmons' death, Professor Patrick Doctoral John Finnie Downie Smith
Pagni wrote, "It is not possible to properly summarize advisor Charles Harold Berry
the magnitude of Professor Emmons' unique Doctoral Richard Ernest Kronauer
contributions to the establishment of fire safety science students Tony Maxworthy
as a discipline, other than to call him "Mr. Fire Ephraim M. Sparrow
Research".[4]
He continues to be remembered through the Emmons Lecture at International Symposium of The
International Association for Fire Safety Science and the Howard W. Emmons Distinguished Scholar
Endowment at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Biography
Born in Morristown, New Jersey on August 30, 1912.
Bachelor of Engineering in mechanical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in
1933.
Master of Engineering in mechanical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in
1935.
Doctor of Science in mechanical engineering for Harvard University in 1938.
Advisors were John Finnie Downie Smith and Charles Harold Berry.
Worked briefly for Westinghouse and the University of Pennsylvania.
Professor at Harvard from 1940 onwards.
Notable student was Richard Ernest Kronauer, who later became an expert on human
circadian rhythms.
US National Academy of Engineering member in 1965.
US National Academy of Sciences member in 1966.
Wife Dorothy
Children Beverly, Scott, and Keith
Died November 20, 1998
Awards and honors
American Physical Society Fellow, elected 1946[5]
Honorary ScD from Stevens Institute of Technology, 1963
US National Academy of Engineering member, 1965
US National Academy of Sciences member, 1966
Egerton Gold Medal from the Combustion Institute, 1968
100th Anniversary Medal from Stevens Institute of Technology, 1970
Timoshenko Medal from ASME, 1971
Stevens Honor Award Medallion from Stevens Institute of Technology, 1970
Named Fire Protection Man of the Year by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 1982
Office of Naval Research Prize from the American Physical Society, 1982
Fluid Dynamics Prize (APS), 1982
Arthur B. Guise Medal by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 1986
Selected publications
Sole Author
The Drop Condensation of Vapors
Harvard University Thesis (S.D.), 1938.
Gas dynamics tables for air
Dover: New York, NY, 1947.
Fundamentals of Gas Dynamics
Princeton University Press: Princeton NJ, 1958.
Fluid mechanics and combustion
Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Combustion, p. 1-18 Pittsburgh, Pa., Combustion
Institute, 1971.
“The Further History of Fire Science” Combustion Science and Technology, 40, 1984 (reprinted in Fire
Technology, 21(3), 1985 [1] (https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01039976))
Joint
Thermodynamic properties of helium to 50.000K
by Wilbert James Lick, Howard Wilson Emmons Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, 1962.
Transport properties of helium from 200 to 50.000K
by Wilbert James Lick, Howard Wilson Emmons Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, 1965.
The fire whirl
by Howard W. Emmons and Shuh-Jing Ying Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on
Combustion, p. 475-486 Pittsburgh, Pa., Combustion Institute, 1967.
See also
Howard W Emmons, Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering, Volume 10
(2002) National Academy of Engineering [2] (http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id
=10403&page=76)
TV show where Howard Emmons speaks of the 1980 MGM Las Vegas fire and of the fire
code Harvard Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I1jg1YapBw) on YouTube
The Web of Mechanicians (http://www.imechanica.org/node/1045)
Howard W. Emmons Papers at WPI (http://www.wpi.edu/Images/CMS/Library/MS06.pdf)
Notes
1. Land and Trefethen, 1999
2. Beyler, 1999
3. Kronauer et al., 2007
4. Bryner 2000, p.425-427.
5. "APS Fellow Archive" (https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initi
al=&year=1946&unit_id=&institution=Harvard+University). American Physical Society.
(search on year=1946 and institution=Harvard University)
References
Howard W. Emmons, Authority on Fire Safety, Dies at 86 (https://web.archive.org/web/2008
0509144607/http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1998/12.03/emmons.html), Harvard
University Gazette (Dec 3 1998).
Kronauer, Land, Stone, and Abernathy, Howard Wilson Emmons, Faculty of Arts and
Sciences - Memorial Minute (https://web.archive.org/web/20080706170905/http://www.new
s.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/03.01/13-mm.html), Harvard University Gazette (March 1,
2007).
Bryner, S.L., ed. "Symposium in Memory of Professor Howard Emmons", Fifteenth Meeting
of the UJNR Panel on Fire Safety, Volume 2, March 2000.
Land, R.I. and Trefethen, L.M. "A Tribute To Howard Wilson Emmons, 1912–1998", Journal
of Fluids Engineering 121(2), p. 234-235 (June 1999).
Beyler, Craig. "Guest Editorial: Professor Howard Emmons 1912-1998", Fire Technology
35(1), p. 1 (Feb 1999). [3] (https://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1015326730478)
External links
Howard Wilson Emmons (https://mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=58078) at the Mathematics
Genealogy Project
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