UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 24, Page 1
March 16, 1995
Professor emeritus reflects on career, UD association

     To many, the dawn of the 20th century is an unfamiliar, distant
age, referenced by obscure facts in history books and grainy, black
and white photographs.
     It was another time, before the Great War that was to end all
wars, an era when vaudeville ruled the entertainment industry and
communication was carried on more commonly by letter than by
telephone.
     It was during this less hectic and uncomplicated era that Jerzy
L. Nowinski-now affectionately referred to as "George" by his UD
colleagues-was born, on March 2, 1905, in the small village of
Czestochowa in Poland.
     In early March of this year, a handful of associates and friends
gathered in Nowinski's comfortable, brick home to mark the 90th
birthday of the University's professor emeritus of mechanical
engineering. It is on this quiet side street in Newark where Nowinski
and his wife, Mary, have lived since arriving at the University in
1957.
     Reading even an excerpt from Nowinski's resume gives an
impression of a man who has devoted considerable energy to his
profession, and one who has achieved significant recognition in
return.
     In the years before World War II, Nowinski was a senior
researcher in the Polish Aeronautical Institute. In later years, he
held the position of Extraordinary Professor of Applied Mechanics at
the University of Warsaw, research professor in the Mathematical
Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences and in the Institute of
Fundamental Problems of Technology.
     Nowinski was editor-in-chief of several periodicals, edited and
authored a number of books and has authored more than 240 published
articles in his field.
     For his scientific contributions in Poland, he was awarded an
Officer Cross of Polonia Restituta, a Gold Medal of Merit, a
Government Scientific Award, Silver and Gold Awards for the
reconstruction of Warsaw and a M.T. Huber Scientific Prize.
     Nowinski also has a long list of awards from organizations in the
United States and served as a reviewer for several professional
periodicals, journals and scientific societies.
     He was a visiting lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University,
professor at the University of Texas and, from 1961 until his
retirement in 1973, H. Fletcher Brown Professor in the Department of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Delaware.
Although officially retired since 1973, he maintains close ties with
the department and continued his research activities until very
recently.
     A recent conversation did not focus on Nowinski's academic
achievements, rather it quite easily, and appropriately, moved toward
the past. In a relaxed, comfortable setting with trusted friends,
Nowinski and his wife recalled an array of shared experiences.
     Having been married since 1929, there is much they have in
common, Nowinski said, laughing. "She has been suffering with me for
more than 60 years."
     They both were hesitant to give details about their work with the
Polish Underground, fighting against the Nazis outside Warsaw during
World War II. But, Nowinski did discuss how his wife was responsible
for his achieving his doctorate soon after the war ended.
     Apparently, Nowinski continued his studies and research
throughout the war, finding small parcels of time to add to his notes
and to document his research efforts. After the conflict was over, he
asked his wife what he should do with the mass of documents.
     She suggested he send them to M. T. Huber in Krakow.
     Nowinski followed his wife's advice. The result: "Dr. Huber wrote
to me, and the letter said, 'What you have sent to me, I consider to
be material equal to a doctoral dissertation.'
     "Dr. Huber said in his letter that he will die soon and he is
sending my work to another professor in Warsaw, recommending that this
work of mine be given credit toward a doctorate. And, he was so famous
and well-respected that anyone receiving that recommendation would
have to follow his wishes."
     Like so many Europeans, Nowinski had always dreamed of coming to
America. One of his aunts was an American. When she returned to
Poland, he listened to her stories of the United States and how it was
unusual and exciting.
     "From the very beginning," he said, "I was always dreaming of
coming to America."
     In 1957, he did.
     A professor in mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University
was in search of a visiting professor who could come there
immediately. He called Nowinski.
     "For me, it was a dream, of course," he said.
     But, for Mary Nowinski, it was the opposite. "I was happy in
Poland," she said. "I fought in the underground there. It meant much
to me. But, I went with him, because he was always dreaming about
America. And, I agreed because he wanted it."
     First impressions last a long time, and the Nowinskis' memories
of their arrival in America are as fresh as they were 38 years ago.
     "The cars on the street," said Nowinski, are what really
impressed him.
     His wife, however, had an entirely different recollection. Mary
Nowinski said a woman met them in New York City, to help them with
their arrival and processing. The couple had all of their worldly
possessions in luggage with them and they were worried about them
being stolen..
     When the woman said she was shipping the luggage by train to
Havre de Grace, Md., where it would be picked up in a day or two and
taken to Baltimore, the Nowinskis expressed their concern.
     "She told us not to worry, that no one steals things in this
country," Mary Nowinski said. "And, when we got there the next day,
there it sat, on the train platform. It was there for 24 hours and was
untouched."
     After a short period of time working in Maryland, and a few years
in Wisconsin and Texas, the couple arrived in Newark and decided to
stay. In addition to the marvelous welcome he was given by University
administrators and his colleagues during his orientation and
interview, the weather also was a factor.
     "Texas was too hot, and Wisconsin was too cold," Mary Nowinski
said, "so we settled here."
     Nowinski said he preferred research over teaching. "I didn't like
teaching much. They say I am not a bad teacher, by the voices, or
comments, of the students. But, I was always more interested in
writing."
     Mary Nowinski agreed, "He was always writing," she said. "George
was writing days and nights. He would come home and settle down to
write."
     Tsu-Wei Chou, the University's first Jerzy L. Nowinski Professor
of Mechanical Engineering, said he wanted to clarify Nowinski's
statement.
     Chou explained that he once had a conversation with him about
teaching and that the professor emeritus told him, "Before I teach I
get very excited, and after I teach I get very exhausted."
     Chou explained, "This is what George was doing in the classroom.
He prepared for his lectures so completely, following his note cards
and outline, that he put everything into that effort. It's not that he
did not like teaching. He was really dedicated to it."
     John Meakin, professor of mechanical engineering and former
department chairperson, said, "George went into the classroom as well
prepared as possible or not at all."
     Chou added that Nowinski was so highly respected that he was the
first faculty member on campus with a named professorship established
in his honor during his lifetime.
     Given his well-respected career, Nowinski was asked to offer
advice on how to be successful.
     Without hesitation, he said, success depends upon three elements:
a supportive companion, luck and drive.
     He credits his wife with much of his success. "She allowed me to
work," he said. "If she would have been different, wanting more
attention, I would not have accomplished as much.
     "Second, you have to have some luck. There are people much better
than others, but they don't have luck.
     "And, you must have something inborn, the drive, the will to
believe that you will do this thing you must do. You have people who
must express themselves, writers who must write something. There is
this drive that compels them to continue."
     Today, Nowinski said, his drive to publish more papers and
continue his research has been replaced with his commitment to his
wife. "My Mary is not so strong now and needs me now. And I am here
for her, like she was here for me so many years."
     In Polish, the traditional birthday greeting is "Sto lat" or "May
you live 100 years."
     Nowinski has reached 90 percent of that milestone, and his
University colleagues are wishing him the best in his years ahead.
                                                         -Ed Okonowicz