Simon Ostrach (December 26, 1923 – October 2, 2017) was an American academic and a pioneer in the fields of buoyancy-driven flows and microgravity science.

Early life and education

Ostrach was born and raised in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Engineering from

Rhode Island State College The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

, followed by an additional Master of Science and a PhD from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, both in Applied Mathematics.

Career

He was a Distinguished Professor at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

, where he was affiliated with the Florida A&M University – Florida State University College of Engineering. He was also the Wilbert J. Austin Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Engineering at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

in Cleveland, Ohio. He was honored by NASA in 1998 as one of its "12 Superstars of Modern Aeronautics" and was a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

and the

American Academy of Arts & Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States of America, United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bow ...

Personal life

Ostrach was married twice and had five children. One of his sons, Louis Ostrach, died in 2017. He died at the age of 93 in

Pepper Pike, Ohio Pepper Pike is a city in eastern Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,796 as of the 2020 census. It is an affluent suburb of the Cleveland metropolitan area. History In 1763, sixteen pioneers settled the area along the eas ...

References

External links

Florida State University faculty profile

Case Western Reserve University Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty
1923 births 2017 deaths Engineering educators Florida State University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Case Western Reserve University faculty Fluid dynamicists Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering American engineers Brown University alumni University of Rhode Island alumni People from Providence, Rhode Island {{US-academic-scientist-stub