Richard B. Hetnarski (May 31, 1928 – June 8, 2024) was a Polish-born American academic and translator who was a professor in the department of mechanical engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology. He was an ASME Fellow since 1983ASME 2020 Fellows List, p. 29 and a New York State Licensed Professional Engineer since 1976.NYS Professional Engineer License. 12 Mar 1976 He is best known for his contributionsYUGOSLAV SOCIETY OF MECHANICS NEWS - Professor Richard B. HetnarskiSemantic Scholar - R. HetnarskiIreland, C., "Three physicists glow in Rochester". Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, NY] p. 1B & 4B, 2 Aug. 1998. to the fields of Thermal Stresses and Thermoelasticity.
Early life and work Richard B. Hetnarski was born in Stopnica,Stopnica, Main Square (rynek) at the end of the market day ca. 1936 Poland. He received a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering at Gdańsk University of Technology in Poland in 1952; an M.S. degree in mathematics at the University of Warsaw in 1960; and a Doctor of Technical Sciences degree at the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw in 1964, mostly under the tutelage of Professor Witold Nowacki.Professor Witold Nowacki Assessment. 11 June 1969"Assessment of Dr. Ryszard B. Hetnarski's scientific activities". Polish Academy of Science. 14 June, 1969 In his career he concentrated his research on Solid Body Mechanics.
In Poland, he worked at the Institute of Aviation in Warsaw (1955–1959), and also at the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (1959–1969). In the years 1964–1965, he held post-doctorate fellowships at Columbia University in New York and at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Immigration to the United States In 1969, Hetnarski and his family emigrated from Poland to the United States, and he became Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, for the year 1969–1970. He became a United States naturalized citizen in 1974. From 1970 until 1998, he held positions in the Department of mechanical engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology, first as New York State Science and Technology Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professor"Hetnarski Research on Aerospace Stress". R·I·T NEWS & EVENTS. 20 Mar, 1980. p. 3., Vol.12, No.11 (1970–1971), then as Professor (1971–1992), and finally as James E. Gleason Professor (1992–1998)."Prof to Co-chair International Symposium". R·I·T NEWS & EVENTS. 19 Mar, 1998. Page 5., Vol.30, No.10"Dr. Hetnarski Named RIT's Jeames E. Gleason Professor", The Rochester Engineer. Oct. 1992 p. 30 He became a professor emeritus in 1998.RIT Professor Emeritus Appointment. 8 Sept 1998
In 1979, he held a summer faculty fellowship at the NASA Lewis Research CenterCertificate of Recognition, NASA Summer Faculty Fellowship Program, Summer 1979 in Cleveland, Ohio. Then, in September 1979, he taught a UNESCO sponsored course at the International Centre for Mechanical Sciences (CISM)CISM Invitation. 23 Jan 1979 in Udine, Italy. Subsequently, he became a NASA employeeNASA Employee Service Statement, 9 Oct 1979 - 1 Feb 1980NASA Notification of Personnel Action, 9 Oct 1979 - 1 Feb 1980 as an aeronautical engineer, and worked at NASA in Cleveland until the end of January 1980. Later, he spent five months as Visiting Professor at the University of Paderborn in Germany.Visiting Professor Invitation. University of Paderborn, 26 April 1979
Personal life
Hetnarski was known for his deeply pro-democracy convictions. In 1989, when the Communist government in Poland was collapsing, he gave a number of presentations on the subject at three TV network affiliates of NBC, ABC, and CBS. When Lech Wałęsa, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of Poland, visited Rochester Institute of Technology"RIT's latest in-the-news stories". R·I·T NEWS & EVENTS. 17 May 1995. p. 5, Vol.26, No.18 in February 1998, he and Wałęsa discussed the political situation in Poland, later described in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle,"Reader Q & A". Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, NY] p. 19A, 22 Feb. 1998. February 22, 1998 edition.
Hetnarski died in Naples, Florida, on June 8, 2024, at the age of 96.
Achievements
Hetnarski was the founder (with Naotake Noda) and president until 2020 of the International Congresses on Thermal Stresses (ICTS). These Congresses are held every two years consecutively on three continents, that is, in Asia, America, Europe. The first meeting was held June 5–7, 1995 in Hamamatsu, Japan at Shizuoka UniversityFirst International Symposium on Thermal Stresses and Related Topics and second was held June 8–11, 1997 in Rochester, New York, U.S. at Rochester Institute of Technology.Second International Symposium on Thermal Stresses and Related Topics These were titled First and Second International Symposium on Thermal Stresses and Related Topics, respectively. The name International Symposium on Thermal Stresses and Related Topics was changed to International Congress on Thermal Stresses with the meeting in Kraków, Poland at Cracow University of Technology on June 13–17, 1999.Third International Congress on Thermal Stresses In 2002 the International Congresses on Thermal Stresses (ICTS) became an Affiliated Organization of International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM).IUTAM 2002 Annual Report, p.82
Hetnarski was active in teaching, research, publishing, translating, and editing. He is the author of many papers on Mechanics and Mathematics. His latest paper, on Constant Force Spring System with a SpiralHetnarski, R. B. (August 11, 2020). "Constant Force Spring System With a Spiral." ASME. J. Mechanisms Robotics. December 2020; 12(6): 061018. was published in the ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics in 2020 when he was 92 years old.
Books Hetnarski was a co-author of five graduate-level textbooks: Thermal Stresses,Applied Mechanics Reviews, vol. 54, no 4, July 2001, pages B71-B72 by N. Noda, R.B. Hetnarski, and Y. Tanigawa, 2nd edition, Taylor & Francis, XIV+493 pages, 2003. The Mathematical Theory of Elasticity, by R.B. Hetnarski and J. Ignaczak, 2nd edition, CRC Press, XXXV+800 pages, 2010. Solutions Manual to accompany the book Mathematical Theory of Elasticity, by R.B. Hetnarski and J. Ignaczak, Taylor & Francis, New York, 2005, 160 pages. Thermal Stresses - Advanced Theory and Applications, by R.B. Hetnarski and M.R. Eslami, 2nd edition, Springer, XXXII+636 pages, 2019. Theory of Elasticity and Thermal Stresses – Explanations, Problems and Solutions, by M.R. Eslami, R.B. Hetnarski, J. Ignaczak, N. Noda, N. Sumi, and Y. Tanigawa, XVI+789 pages, Springer, 2013.
Editor and translator work
In 1978, Hetnarski founded the Journal of Thermal Stresses,"Our Faculty: In the Forefront of the Field." RIT M·E·R·I·T, Spring 1987. p. 2 and he was its editor-in-chief for 40 yearsSpecial Issue to Commemorate the 90th Birthday of Richard B. Hetnarski and Forty Years of the Journal of Thermal Stresses, Journal of Thermal Stresses, Part I, vol. 41, 2018, issues 10, 11, 12, pp. XVIII + 1202–1596. Part II, vol. 42, 2019, issue 1, pp. 1–212. Ignaczak, J. (1998). Recollections on Richard B. Hetnarski, Journal of Thermal Stresses, vol. 21, pp. 181–183. (1978–2018), and was later its Honorary Editor. He served (1988–1991) as an Associate Editor of Applied Mechanics Reviews.
He was Editor of the 11-volume Encyclopedia of Thermal Stresses,Maugin, Gérard A. (2015). [Review of Encyclopedia of Thermal Stresses, edited by Richard B. Hetnarski LXXXIII (11 vols., 6643 pp., 3269 illus., 1141 illus. in color), Springer, Dordrecht, Holland, 2014. ]. Journal of Thermal Stresses Volume 38, 2015 - Issue 2, pp. 271–275.Picture of 11-volume Encyclopedia of Thermal Stresses 6643 pages, Springer, 2014. Also, he was Editor of the five-volume Thermal StressesBahar, Leon Y. (1987). [Review of “Thermal Stresses I” Vol. 1 of the Second Series: Thermal Stresses Edited by Richard B. Hetnarski A Series of Handbooks in Mechanics and Mathematical Methods, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1986, pp. viii + 547]. Journal of Thermal Stresses Volume 10, 1987 - Issue 4, p. 367. handbook which was published by Elsevier in Amsterdam and by Lastran Corp. in Rochester, New York, in the years 1986–1999.
Hetnarski translated or co-translated three books into Polish from Russian,Iliushin, A.A. and Lenskij W.S., Strength of Materials. Translated by R.B. Hetnarski and W. Piechocki. Polish Scientific Publishers (PWN), Warsaw, 1963, 480 pages. from German,Doetsch, Gustav. Practice of Laplace Transforms. Translated by R.B. Hetnarski, Polish Scientific Publishers (PWN), Warsaw, 1964, 303 pages. and from English,Moon, P. and Spencer, D.E., Field Theory for Engineers. Translated by R.B. Hetnarski, Polish Scientific Publishers (PWN), Warsaw, 1966, 600 pages. and one from Russian into English.Parton, V.Z. and Morozov, E.M., Mechanics of Elastic-Plastic Fracture, Translated by M. Piterman and R.B. Hetnarski, Hemisphere Publishing, New York, 1989. He edited five books on Mechanics.Nowacki, W. (1975). Dynamic Problems of Thermoelasticity (translation from Polish). Edited by R.B. Hetnarski and P. Francis. Noordhoff International Publishing, 1975, 436 pages.Parton, V.Z. and Boriskovsky, V.G. (1989). Dynamic Fracture Mechanics, vol. 1 (translation from Russian). Edited by R.B. Hetnarski. Hemisphere Publishing, New York, NY, 322 pages.Parton, V.Z. and Morozov, E.M. (1989). Mechanics of Elastic-Plastic Fracture (translation from Russian). Edited by R.B. Hetnarski. Hemisphere Publishing, New York, NY, 522 pages.Frolov, K.V., Izrailev, Yu.L., Makhutov, N.A., Morozov. E.M. and Parton, V.Z. (1991). Thermal Stresses and Strength of Turbines (translation from Russian). Hemisphere Publishing, New York, NY, 379 pages.Skrzypek J. (1993). Plasticity and Creep. Edited by R.B. Hetnarski. Begell House Publishing, New York, NY, and CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 542 pages.
References