Alan Neville Gent (11 November 1927 – 20 September 2012) was a distinguished professor of the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...

widely recognized during his lifetime as a world-leading authority on the topic of adhesion physics, crystalline and glassy polymers, and the fracturing of rubber.

Contributions to rubber science

Gent discovered the Fletcher-Gent effect and created the Gent hyperelastic model. He was involved in the investigation of the O-ring failure in the space shuttle

Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...

disaster. Gent also published more than 200 works about rubber science, many of which were important contributions on the subject. He was editor/author of the textbook Engineering with Rubber, and studied the conditions that cause

cavitation Cavitation is a phenomenon in which the static pressure of a liquid reduces to below the liquid's vapour pressure, leading to the formation of small vapor-filled cavities in the liquid. When subjected to higher pressure, these cavities, cal ...

in rubber under the action of hydrostatic tensile loading.

Life

Gent was born in

Leicester, England Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. He obtained degrees in Physics and Maths at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He obtained a doctorate in 1955 in the mechanics of deformation and fracture of rubber and plastics. At age 17, Gent worked as a research assistant at the John Bull Rubber Co. He served in the British Army from 1947 to 1949, before becoming a research physicist and later a principal physicist at the British Rubber Producer's Research Association. Gent joined the faculty of the

in 1961, spending nearly a half-century at the school. He had been assistant director of the Institute of Polymer Science, dean of graduate studies and research, as well as a researcher and professor. Gent obtained the 1975

Bingham Medal The Bingham Medal is an annual award for outstanding contributions to the field of rheology awarded at the Annual Meeting of The Society of Rheology. It was instituted in 1948 by the society to commemorate Eugene C. Bingham (1878–1945). List o ...

and the Colwyn Medal of the Plastics and Rubber Institute in 1978 and the George S. Whitby teaching award in 1987. Gent also received the

Charles Goodyear Medal The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, and consists of a gold medal, a framed c ...

from the ACS Rubber Division in 1990. He died on 20 September 2012, at the age of 85.

External links

Photograph of Prof. Gent

1979 Interview with Alan Gent
* Prof. Gent starred i
this
University of Akron production of The Adventures of Mr. Tompkins

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gent, Alan Neville 1927 births 2012 deaths People from Leicester University of Akron faculty British Army soldiers Polymer scientists and engineers *