FAU Engineering Professor Receives ‘Blaise Pascal Medal’

By GISELE GALOUSTIAN

Isaac Elishakoff, professor in the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering within the College of Engineering and Computer Science who also holds the honorary FAU title distinguished research professor, has received the “Blaise Pascal Medal” for engineering from the European Academy of Sciences. Named after the great 17th century French mathematician-physicist-philosopher, the Blaise Pascal Medal was established in 2003 to recognize outstanding and demonstrated personal contributions to science and technology and the promotion of excellence in research and education.

The European Academy of Sciences is a nonprofit non-governmental, independent organization of the most distinguished scholars and engineers performing forefront research and development of advanced technologies, united by a commitment to promoting science and technology and their essential roles in fostering social and economic development. One of the most important objectives of the academy is the promotion of fundamental research and excellence in science and technology. 

“The European Academy of Science’s Blaise Pascal Medal for engineering is one of the most prestigious awards in the world of innovation and engineering, and we are incredibly proud of professor Elishakoff for receiving this most well-deserved recognition,” said Stella Batalama, Ph.D., dean, College of Engineering and Computer Science. “As one of our most distinguished researchers, professor Elishakoff has made pioneering contributions in several areas of applied mechanics research and education, which have impacted the global advancement of business, culture and learning.”

Elishakoff is a fellow of the European Academy of Sciences; a fellow of European Academy of Arts and Sciences; a foreign member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences; a full member of the Academy of Engineering, Georgia; a fellow of the American Academy of Mechanics; a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; and a fellow of the Japan Society of Promotion of Science. 

Among the numerous awards and recognition he has received include the Bathsheva de Rothschild prize (1973); the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ “Worcester Reed Warner Medal in Literature” (2016) for seminal contributions to the permanent literature of engineering research through highly praised books and numerous breakthrough research papers over the past 40 years; and the “William B. Johnson Inter-Professional Founder’s Award,” in recognition of a lifetime achievement of accomplishments in applied mechanics research and instruction (2019).

Over the course of his career, Elishakoff’s research activities have been supported by the National Science Foundation, NASA Kennedy Space Center; NASA Langley Research Center; NASA Glenn Research Center; ICASE-NASA Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering; and the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research.

Elishakoff has made pioneering contributions in several areas including random vibrations; nonlinear buckling of structures; structural reliability; dynamic stability of structures with imperfections; stochastic modeling and linearization; computerized symbolic algebra; and random vibrations and reliability of composite structures; among others. He has published 17 books, edited 14 books and authored or co-authored more than 550 original papers in leading national and international journals and conference proceedings and has lectured at about 200 national and international meetings and seminars, including 62 invited, plenary or keynote lectures. He has lectured worldwide in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Asia.

Born in Kutaisi, Republic of Georgia, Europe, Elishakoff holds a Ph.D. in dynamics and strength of machines from the Power Engineering Institute and Technical University in Moscow, Russia. Prior to joining FAU, he taught at the Abkhazian University, Sukhumi, Republic of Georgia for one year, and at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa for 18 years. He also has been given several visiting appointments.

Elishakoff was an inaugural holder of the Frank M. Freimann Chair Professorship of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana (1985-1986) as well as the Henry J. Massman, Jr. Chair Professorship of Civil Engineering (1986-1987). In 2000, he served as the inaugural holder of the W.T. Koiter Chair Professorship at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. In summer 2007, he served as a visiting professor of civil engineering at the Ariel University Center, Israel. He also served as a visiting eminent scholar at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China (2007, 2009 and 2010). From 2014 to 2018, he served as a visiting distinguished professor at the Technion at the auspices of the Edmond Safra Foundation; in 2015, he served as a distinguished visiting fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom, and in 2019, he served as the S.P. Timoshenko Scholar at Stanford University.

In addition to extensive research, Elishakoff has developed numerous undergraduate and graduate courses, including the first engineering course worldwide, “Design for Homeland Security.” Since 1988, he has served as the general advisory editor for publications on vibration, stability and reliability for the series “Studies in Applied Mechanics and Developments in Civil Engineering” of Elsevier Science Publishers, Oxford, England. He also serves on the advisory editorial board of the Springer book series in “Risk Engineering.” In 2012, he was appointed as the scientific editor of the series “Mechanical Engineering and Solid Mechanics” by ISTE-Wiley Publishers, London.