Distinguished Engineering Alumnus
Award Recipient
Eli Sternberg — 1987
One of only a few who have been elected to both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences, this distinguished alumnus earned his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from this university in 1941. He earned his master's degree in Civil Engineering and his doctorate in Mechanics at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
His entire career has been spent in academia, where he has had a major influence on the fields of elasticity, thermoelasticity, and viscoelasticity through his significant fundamental contributions to these areas. He is currently Professor of Mechanics in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science at the California Institute of Technology.
When he received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from this university in 1963, he was cited for the achievements that brought him to a “position of eminence in the field of applied mathematics which few can match.”
His honors are many, among which are the Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and the Timoshenko Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Eli Sternberg