Robert H. Kraichnan, professor of mechanical engineering, died on Feb. 26 in Santa Fe, N.M. at the age of 80. Kraichnan had worked at Hopkins in the Whiting School of Engineering since 2003.
He earned his Ph.D in theoretical physics at MIT, completing the program in 1949. He then served as Albert Einstein's assistant at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study until 1950.
Starting in the mid-1950s, Kraichnan focused his research on fluid mechanical turbulence, leading him to be dubbed by many as the father of modern turbulence theory.
He held faculty positions at Columbia and New York Universities during the '50s, and in 1962, he became self-employed. He did consultant work for several government agencies and received some highly sought-after grants.
He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Dirac Medal, the APS Onsager Prize and the APS Fluid Dynamics Prize.
Kraichnan is survived by his wife, artist and photographer Judy Moore-Kraichnan; his former wife, Carol Gebhardt; his son and one granddaughter.
