Dale Vance Holliday (May 29, 1940 – February 4, 2010) was an American physicist and acoustician. Born in

Ennis, Texas Ennis () is a city in eastern Ellis County, Texas. It is on the edge of the blackland prairie region of Texas. The population is 20,159 according to the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 21,210 in 2021. Ennis is home to the annual Nat ...

, Holliday attended the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. He graduated with a B.S. and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

and did extensive

theoretical A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

and

experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

al research on the

Mössbauer effect The Mössbauer effect, or recoilless nuclear resonance fluorescence, is a physical phenomenon discovered by Rudolf Mössbauer in 1958. It involves the resonant and recoil-free emission and absorption of gamma radiation by atomic nuclei bound in a ...

. He died in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

on February 4, 2010, after a period of illness. Holliday became one of the first 100 employees of

Tracor Tracor was a major North American defense electronics contractor which was acquired by Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), a subsidiary of General Electric Company plc, in 1998. Following the purchase of MES by British Aerospace in November 1999 ...

in 1962 and quickly became Director of Analysis and Applied Research in the Electronic Systems Division. In 1965 Holliday left Austin to develop the Tracor facility in

and began his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

applied physics Applied physics is the application of physics to solve scientific or engineering problems. It is usually considered to be a bridge or a connection between physics and engineering. "Applied" is distinguished from "pure" by a subtle combination ...

at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is ...

. In

Holliday began his study in

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acousticia ...

for which he is known. His study of transient flow in

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

pipelines led to the publication of a

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...

which is still used as a standard reference. In the 1970s Holliday began testing a revolutionary technique for the detection and size measurement of zooplankton in thin layers involving multi-frequency backscattering. The technique developed and after twenty years became the established framework for research in the field. In the early 1980s Holliday built the first prototype of the Tracor Acoustical Profiling System (TAPS) which has been described as decades ahead of its time by the Acoustical Society of America. TAPS is now the standard instrument for acoustical profiling of

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a cruc ...

in the sea. Holliday published hundreds of papers on

underwater acoustics Underwater acoustics is the study of the propagation of sound in water and the interaction of the mechanical waves that constitute sound with the water, its contents and its boundaries. The water may be in the ocean, a lake, a river or a tank. Ty ...

and acoustical oceanography and given dozens of talks and symposia in several countries. In 2004 Holliday became only the third recipient of the

Acoustical Society of America The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary org ...

Silver Medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, et ...

in Acoustical Oceanography, for "contributions to the study of

marine life Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet. ...

, from plankton to

whales Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

". Holliday was awarded the Prix d'Excellence by the

International Council for the Exploration of the Sea The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES; french: Conseil International de l'Exploration de la Mer, ''CIEM'') is a regional fishery advisory body and the world's oldest intergovernmental science organization. ICES is headqua ...

(ICES) in recognition of extraordinary contributions, fulfilling the ICES vision of scientific discovery, leadership, and applications that have had major influence on policy for sustained use and conservation of marine ecosystems. The Award was presented at the ICES Annual Science Conference on Monday September 22, 2008. The research vessel R/V Dale Van Holliday is operated by the Southwest Fisheries Science Center of the

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

Fisheries Service. Holliday died on February 4, 2010, at the age of 69 from complications of heart surgery, which was in turn caused by complications from the

scoliosis Scoliosis is a condition in which a person's spine has a sideways curve. The curve is usually "S"- or "C"-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others, it increases over time. Mild scoliosis does not ty ...

which he had battled his entire life. The Acoustical Society of America organized
session in his memory
during its 162nd Meeting, on October 31, 2011.

Honors and Positions

* Prix d'Excellence -

(2008) *

in acoustical oceanography -

(2004) * Meritorious Public Service Award - Department of the Navy, Chief of Naval Research (2002) * Founding Editorial Board - Limnology and Oceanography: Methods (2002) * Steinbach Visiting Scholar -

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, i ...

(1987) * Member of the US Delegation to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (1987) * R/V D. V. Holliday -

References

Sources

*
Biography, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth

External links

Sounds in the Sea: From Ocean Acoustics to Acoustical Oceanography, Chapter 12A shallow scattering layer...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holliday, D. Van Acousticians American physicists University of California, San Diego alumni University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences alumni 1940 births 2010 deaths Fellows of the Acoustical Society of America People from Ennis, Texas