In Memoriam: Professor Richard H. Pletcher (1935–2015), Who Advanced Computational Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer

Abstract

It is with great sadness that we share with you the loss of a dear colleague and friend, Dr. Richard H. Pletcher. He was one of the pioneers and an internationally renowned expert in computational fluid mechanics and heat transfer, and was not only inspirational in directing the careers and lives of so many of us, but a mentor, who was extremely supportive and kind to all. Richard, or Dick, as we all personally and collegially addressed him, passed away on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015, having been diagnosed with terminal cancer. His 80 years of life are marked with multifaceted contributions to engineering, as his work helped advance computational techniques to solve challenging problems in aerospace and mechanical engineering. Dick is remembered for his large body of work in heat transfer, fluid mechanics, buoyant jets and plumes, turbulence modeling, separated flows, viscous–inviscid interactions, computational fluid mechanics and heat transfer, and large eddy simulation (LES) of complex turbulent flows.