UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 11
November 14, 1996
Two engineering faculty appointed named profs
Two professors in the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering have been appointed to named professorships, Provost
Mel Schiavelli has announced.
Robert A. Dalrymple is now the Edward C. Davis Professor of
Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Ib A. Svendsen is
Distinguished Professor of Ocean Engineering. Both were nominated
for the honor by Stuart Cooper, dean of the College of
Engineering.
"Named professorships signify the best of our faculty,
individuals who have provided distinguished service as teachers
and who have gained the respect of their colleagues on campus and
beyond in their fields of scholarship," Schiavelli said. "Both
these professors bring distinction to their department and the
University of Delaware.
"Prof. Dalrymple is highly regarded for his research on wave
mechanics and mathematical tools for coastal engineering and as a
leader in the field of coastal and ocean engineering, and Prof.
Svendsen has won international recognition in the area of surf
zone hydrodynamics and for his highly regarded research in
coastal engineering," Schiavelli said.
Dalrymple's professorship honors the late Edward C. Davis
(1884-1959), who was graduated from Delaware College (forerunner
to the University) in 1905 with a bachelor's degree in civil
engineering. He became one of nation's leading hydraulic
engineers and was a generous benefactor to the University.
Robert A. Dalrymple
Dalrymple, who also holds an appointment as professor in the
College of Marine Studies, joined the UD faculty in 1973. Founder
and director of the Center for Applied Coastal Research since
1989, he also has served as assistant dean of the College of
Engineering and acting chairperson of the Department of Civil
Engineering.
His major research interests are wave mechanics, including
wave propagation modelling and wave-current interaction, littoral
processes and tidal inlets.
Recipient of the 1996 Moffatt & Nichol Harbor and Coastal
Engineering Award of the American Society of Civil Engineering
(ASCE), Dalrymple received the Editor's Citation for Excellence
in Refereeing for the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans in
1993 and a special faculty award for outstanding contributions to
the educational program of the UD College of Engineering in 1989.
Since 1992, he has served as a member of ASCE's Coastal
Engineering Research Council. From 1989-93, he was a civilian
member of the Coastal Engineering Research Board of the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, and he served as a council member of the
Delaware Association of Professional Engineers from 1990-92.
He is the coauthor of Water Wave Mechanics for Engineers and
Scientists andResponding to Changes in Sea level: Engineering
Implications, editor of Physical Modelling in Coastal Engineering
and Coastal Hydrodynamics and has authored or coauthored some 75
journal articles and book chapters. He also has made
presentations at numerous professional conferences.
A fellow of ASCE, Dalrymple is a member of Sigma Xi, the
American Geophysical Union, the American Shore and Beach
Preservation Association, the International Association for
Hydraulic Research, the American Academy of Mechanics and the
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
A graduate of Dartmouth College, he received his master's
degree in ocean engineering at the University of Hawaii and his
doctorate in civil and coastal engineering at the University of
Florida.
Ib A. Svendsen
Svendsen, who also holds an appointment as professor in the
College of Marine Studies, joined the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering as professor and chairperson in 1987,
serving in the latter position until this year. In 1994, he was a
visiting professor at Delft University of Technology.
Previously, he was affiliated with the Institute of
Hydrodynamics and Hydraulic Engineering at Technical University
in Lyngby, Denmark, from 1971-87 and was a visiting associate
professor at UD in 1982-83. From 1964-71, he was assistant
professor in the Coastal Engineering Laboratory at Technical
University in Copenhagen, and he was a research engineer in the
Coastal Engineering Laboratory of what is now the Danish
Hydraulic Institute.
Svendsen's research interests include the mechanics of
nearshore processes, in particular, wave breaking, wave-induced
currents, sediment transport and coastal stability. He also
studies computational methods for analysis of 2- and 3-
dimensional wave motion in offshore regions and laboratory wave
generation.
In 1991, he was elected a member of the Danish Research
Academy's International Faculty, and in 1992, he was elected a
foreign member of the Danish Center for Applied Mathematics and
Mechanics.
Svendsen is coauthor of the books Problems in Port and
Coastal Engineering and Hydrodynamics of Coastal Regions and has
authored or coauthored more than 75 review papers and articles in
journals, as well as 11 research reports and numerous
contributions to the "Progress Report" series of the Institute of
Hydrodynamics and Hydraulic Engineering at Technical University,
Denmark.
He has served on numerous committees for international
scientific conferences and for the Danish government and is a
member of several professional and honor societies, including the
Danish Institution of Civil Engineers, the Danish Center for
Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, the International Association
for Hydraulic Research, the American Society for Engineering
Education, the American Geophysical Union, the American Society
of Civil Engineers and Tau Beta Pi (Eminent Engineer).
A native of Copenhagen, Svendsen earned his master's degree
in civil engineering and his doctorate in wave mechanics at
Technical University in Denmark and completed postgraduate work
in fluid mechanics at Colorado State University.
-John Brennan