Mark Owen Robbins was an American condensed matter physicist who specialized in computational studies of friction,

fracture Fracture is the separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacement discontinuity surfaces within the solid. If a displa ...

and adhesion, with a particular focus on nanotribology, contact mechanics, and polymers. He was a professor in the department of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University at the time of his death.

Early life and education

Robbins was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was raised in Newton, Massachusetts. After completing his BA and MA degrees in physics at Harvard University in 1977, he spent a year as a

Churchill Fellow Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

at Cambridge University. He completed a Ph.D. in physics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1983.

Career

After graduating from UC Berkeley, Robbins held a three-year appointment as a postdoctoral research fellow at Exxon Corporation's research science laboratory in New Jersey. In 1986, he joined the faculty of the department of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, where he was promoted to Associate (1988) and Full (1992) professor. He served as chair of the advisory board of the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics (KITP) at the University of California, Santa Barbara from 2007 to 2008, and chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Tribology in 2010. He also served as the associate director for the Institute for Data Intensive Engineering and Science.

Research

Robbins was known for his work in the application of molecular simulations to the non equilibrium phenomena of friction, fracture and adhesion. A recurring theme in his research was the

elucidation The ''Elucidation'' is an anonymous Old French poem of the early 13th century, which was written to serve as a prologue to Chrétien de Troyes' ''Perceval, le Conte du Graal''.Lacy, "Introduction." The poem counts 484 lines and cites one Master Bli ...

of new physics on the atomic/molecular scale that could not be described by conventional

continuum Continuum may refer to: * Continuum (measurement), theories or models that explain gradual transitions from one condition to another without abrupt changes Mathematics * Continuum (set theory), the real line or the corresponding cardinal number ...

methods, and the use of

scaling Scaling may refer to: Science and technology Mathematics and physics * Scaling (geometry), a linear transformation that enlarges or diminishes objects * Scale invariance, a feature of objects or laws that do not change if scales of length, energ ...

relations to predict a physical system's behavior at one length or time scale based on how it behaves at another. The scope of his research included the microscopic origins of macro scale friction laws, shear flow of fluids in nanoscale confinement, the toughness of polymer adhesives and the

stiffness Stiffness is the extent to which an object resists deformation in response to an applied force. The complementary concept is flexibility or pliability: the more flexible an object is, the less stiff it is. Calculations The stiffness, k, of a b ...

elastic Elastic is a word often used to describe or identify certain types of elastomer, elastic used in garments or stretchable fabrics. Elastic may also refer to: Alternative name * Rubber band, ring-shaped band of rubber used to hold objects togeth ...

contacts..

Honors and awards

* 1986 Presidential Young Investigator Award * 1987 Sloan Foundation Fellowship * 1999 Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

, "For his contributions to our understanding of the molecular origins of friction, lubrication, spreading and adhesion." * 2018 Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

, "For using simulations to reveal the microscopic origins of macroscopic behavior of matter"

Personal life

Robbins was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was the eldest of five children raised in Newton, Massachusetts by Dorothy (Bigelow) and Owen Robbins. He married Dr. Patricia McGuiggan, a materials science research professor, in 1993. They were married until his death, and had two children. After traveling to Brazil in the 1980s, Robbins developed an interest in orchids and began collecting and cultivating them at home. By 2003, his orchid collection had grown into the hundreds, and he had created two new varieties that he named after his children. He died at his home in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, on August 13, 2020.

References

External links

Mark Robbins homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Mark O. Harvard University alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society 21st-century American physicists 2020 deaths University of California, Berkeley alumni 20th-century American physicists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 1955 births Tribologists People from Indianapolis