Steven A. Orszag
Encyclopedia
Steven Alan Orszag was an American mathematician. He was the Percey F. Smith Professor of Mathematics at Yale University
from 2000 until his death in 2011, having joined the Yale faculty in 1998. Earlier, he was the Forrest E. Hamrick Professor
of Engineering
at Princeton University
(1984–1998) and Professor of Applied Mathematics
at MIT
(1967–1984). He received his B.S. in Mathematics
from MIT where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi
Fraternity, his Ph.D.
from Princeton in Astrophysics
, and was a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study
. He has won numerous awards including Sloan Fellowship
and Guggenheim Fellowship
, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Fluid and Plasmadynamics Award, the Otto Laporte Award
of the American Physical Society
, and the Society of Engineering Science's G. I. Taylor Medal.
Orszag specialized in fluid dynamics
, especially turbulence, computational physics
and mathematics, electronic chip manufacturing, computer storage system design, and other topics in scientific computing. His work included the development of spectral methods, pseudo-spectral method
s, direct numerical simulation
s, renormalization group methods for turbulence, and very-large-eddy simulations. He was the founder of and/or chief scientific adviser to a number of companies, including Flow Research, Ibrix (now part of HPQ), Vector Technologies, and Exa Corp. He has been awarded 6 patents and has written over 400 archival papers.
With Carl M. Bender
he wrote Advanced Mathematical Methods for Scientists and Engineers: Asymptotic Methods and Perturbation Theory, a standard text on mathematical methods
for scientists. Orszag has been listed as an ISI Highly Cited Author in Engineering by the ISI Web of Knowledge, Thomson Scientific Company.
He and his wife Reba (née Karp) have three sons: Michael, Peter
, and Jonathan
.
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
from 2000 until his death in 2011, having joined the Yale faculty in 1998. Earlier, he was the Forrest E. Hamrick Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(1984–1998) and Professor of Applied Mathematics
Applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...
at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(1967–1984). He received his B.S. in Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
from MIT where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi
Pi Lambda Phi
Pi Lambda Phi International Fraternity Inc. is a college social fraternity with 35 active chapters and four colonies in the United States and Canada....
Fraternity, his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from Princeton in Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...
, and was a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
. He has won numerous awards including Sloan Fellowship
Sloan Fellowship
The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This is distinct from the Sloan Fellows in business....
and Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society , founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society , and the Institute...
Fluid and Plasmadynamics Award, the Otto Laporte Award
Otto Laporte Award
The Otto Laporte Award was an annual award by the American Physical Society to "recognize outstanding contributions to fluid dynamics" and to honour Otto Laporte . It was established as the Otto Laporte Memorial Lectureship by the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics in 1972, and became an APS award in...
of the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
, and the Society of Engineering Science's G. I. Taylor Medal.
Orszag specialized in fluid dynamics
Fluid dynamics
In physics, fluid dynamics is a sub-discipline of fluid mechanics that deals with fluid flow—the natural science of fluids in motion. It has several subdisciplines itself, including aerodynamics and hydrodynamics...
, especially turbulence, computational physics
Computational physics
Computational physics is the study and implementation of numerical algorithms to solve problems in physics for which a quantitative theory already exists...
and mathematics, electronic chip manufacturing, computer storage system design, and other topics in scientific computing. His work included the development of spectral methods, pseudo-spectral method
Pseudo-spectral method
Pseudo-spectral methods are a class of numerical methods used in applied mathematics and scientific computing for the solution of PDEs, such as the direct simulation of a particle with an arbitrary wavefunction interacting with an arbitrary potential...
s, direct numerical simulation
Direct numerical simulation
A direct numerical simulation is a simulation in computational fluid dynamics in which the Navier-Stokes equations are numerically solved without any turbulence model...
s, renormalization group methods for turbulence, and very-large-eddy simulations. He was the founder of and/or chief scientific adviser to a number of companies, including Flow Research, Ibrix (now part of HPQ), Vector Technologies, and Exa Corp. He has been awarded 6 patents and has written over 400 archival papers.
With Carl M. Bender
Carl M. Bender
Carl M. Bender is Wilfred R. and Ann Lee Konneker Distinguished Professor of Physics at Washington University in St. Louis.He received his A.B. in 1964 from Cornell University, where he graduated summa cum laude and with Distinction in All Subjects. He earned his M.A...
he wrote Advanced Mathematical Methods for Scientists and Engineers: Asymptotic Methods and Perturbation Theory, a standard text on mathematical methods
Mathematical methods in electronics
Mathematical methods are integral to the study of electronics.-Mathematics in Electronics:Electrical Engineering careers usually include courses in Calculus , Complex Analysis, Differential Equations , Linear Algebra and Probability...
for scientists. Orszag has been listed as an ISI Highly Cited Author in Engineering by the ISI Web of Knowledge, Thomson Scientific Company.
He and his wife Reba (née Karp) have three sons: Michael, Peter
Peter R. Orszag
Peter Richard Orszag is an American economist who is a Vice Chairman of Global Banking at Citigroup. He is also a columnist at Bloomberg View...
, and Jonathan
Jonathan Orszag
Jonathan Orszag is a Senior Managing Director at Compass Lexecon, LLC, an economic consulting firm. He previously served as an Economic Policy Advisor on President Bill Clinton's National Economic Council. He is a Fellow at the University of Southern California's Center for Communication Law &...
.