Professor Emeritus Jerome Connor, a pioneer in structural mechanics, has died at the age of 91
Jerome J. Connor '53, SM '54, ScD '59, professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering and a member of the MIT faculty since 1959, died March 31. He was 91 years old.
During his remarkable career at the Institute, spanning nearly six decades, Connor was a prolific scientist and respected mentor to generations of students, many of whom now hold prominent positions in academia and industry around the world. His early research contributed to pioneering numerical methods widely used in structural engineering today, such as the finite element method, and he was one of the pioneers of the boundary element method. In addition, Connor was a leading proponent of a technical discipline called motion-based design, which is based on limiting displacements from earthquake effects through structural control. His leading role in the application of numerical methods to structural design has led to significant advances in numerical modeling of structural and material behavior.
"He was known for his intellectual leadership, exceptional dedication to the faculty and extraordinary mentoring of students, faculty and staff", says Oral Buyukozturk, the George Macomber Professor of Construction Management, who first met Connor when he was an adjunct assistant professor at Brown University and was invited to lecture at MIT.
Connor led the faculty in new areas of teaching and research, championing the importance of materials research and design education in the civil engineering curriculum. For more than 20 years, Connor led the High Performance Structures track in the Master of Engineering (MEng) program as a faculty advisor. In addition to teaching in the classroom, he helped MEng students think outside the box when designing skyscrapers and bridges. He often accompanied students on week-long national and international trips to prominent construction sites during MIT's independent period. Along with his wife Barbara and their family, he regularly entertained students at their summer home on Cape Cod. His dedication and development of the program contributed to its success and recognition at similar institutions as one of the top professional MEng programs in the country, eagerly sought out by civil engineering students.
"Connor was truly committed to our students and passionate about the field of structural engineering. He introduced a number of pedagogical innovations that we still use today, such as semester-long design projects and visiting innovative projects with structural engineers", says John Ochsendorf, professor of architecture, civil and environmental engineering, who taught under Connor for 10 years and currently heads the Structural Mechanics and Engineering track in the MEng program.
Adored mentor and visionary
Connor was a beloved mentor, organizing and directing MIT students' participation in the National Steel Bridge Competition from 2007 to 2014. Buyukozturk recalls how "he was constantly coming up with new and innovative concepts for the competition; several times his team was selected as the best in the nation, and year after year his students placed in the top three".
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Eduardo Kausel, who was Connor's graduate student and later colleague, remembers him fondly as a wonderful teacher and colleague.
"Jerry was an excellent teacher and I enjoyed taking his computational mechanics classes. He was brilliant at computational mechanics and excelled at everything he did", says Kausel. "As a colleague, he was always kind and had a gentle demeanor; I never saw him get angry or say a harsh word. He also had a fantastic ability to mentor students who later became not only outstanding professionals, but also very wealthy people", Kausel says.
Kausel also recalls Connor's uncanny ability to look into the future and know where the next major trend in the field would emerge. Connor was one of the first researchers to work on the boundary element method in structural engineering. This method helps to understand how fluid interacts with structures to ensure their stability, safety, and efficiency. Connor also experimented with artificial intelligence long before it became popular, and was instrumental in leading a group of MIT researchers in developing the STRUDL computer code, which has become a highly influential software package for structural analysis and design.
In addition to structural mechanics, he has been involved in computational fluid mechanics, helping to develop early finite element analysis in the time and frequency domains. His models have found applications in marine engineering, including tidal circulation, and in the behavior and design of offshore structures for resilience to extreme events, including those associated with climate change.
Buyukozturk believes the faculty has evolved into what it is today because of Connor's leadership and vision. "Research priorities change over time, but Jerry has developed a basic roadmap for research priorities in computational mechanics, engineering design, and sustainable materials development that encompasses the entire faculty on a broader scale", he says.
An influential and versatile career
Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts on May 19, 1932, Connor attended Boston College High School and received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before returning to MIT to become a faculty member, he worked at the Army Materials Laboratory in Watertown developing missile systems during the Vietnam War. During a sabbatical leave in 1983, he served as dean of Northeastern University's School of Engineering and director of the MIT Sea Grant program.
During his career, Connor's research in structural mechanics has captured the interest of the international community. He has spoken at conferences around the world and consulted on many engineering projects, including the glass crisis at Hancock Tower, the Twin Towers in New York City, the Parthenon in Greece, and many others. His work has been cited and published in leading engineering journals, and he has received numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Thessaloniki in Greece. He has authored many books on structural engineering, the boundary element method, motion-based design, and computational fluid mechanics. His books are used in doctoral programs at universities around the world.
Connor led a busy and adventurous life outside of his academic endeavors as well. Known to his friends and colleagues as "Jerry", Connor and his wife Barbara traveled to more than 25 countries around the world, but especially loved Provence in the south of France. Among his unforgettable adventures were a family trip in a Volkswagen bus across Europe during the vacations and, during a sabbatical at MIT in 1970, sailing to England on the liner Queen Elizabeth 2 with his then young children.
Connor is survived by his wife Barbara and six children, Patricia and her husband Richard, Steven and his wife Madeline, Brian and his wife Michelle, Michael and his wife Christine, Mark and his wife Kathy, Tracy and her husband Maurice, and 14 grandchildren. Donations in Connor's memory may be made to the Boston College High School account.