Special Issue: Tribute to Frederick F. Ling 1927–2014

Abstract

Frederick Fongsun Ling died on Nov. 8, 2014 in New York, NY after a distinguished career in tribology that spanned more than 60 years. Professor Ling taught mechanical engineering and mechanics at four universities during his career: Carnegie Institute of Technology (2 years), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (34 years), Columbia University (4 years), and the University of Texas at Austin (10 years). During that period he also published over a hundred technical papers on various aspects of tribology and wrote or edited more than six books, most notably his seminal texts Surface Mechanics (1973) and Fundamentals of Surface Mechanics with Applications (2002). Dr. Ling received many honors and awards for his achievements, including membership in the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, Honorary Membership in ASME, and the ASME Mayo D. Hersey Award. He had a strong and beneficial influence on the growth of the field of tribology and its application in the latter half of the 20th century, and mentored many engineers and researchers in the field of tribology. The papers in this volume have been written by some of the tribologists whose careers have been influenced by Dr. Ling in one way or another. They include former students and colleagues, and others who learned the lessons and approaches of Fred Ling through his books and papers or by studying under either Professor Ling, his former students, or their successive students. This brief preface is authored by the current and three of the immediate past Editors of the ASME Journal of Tribology. I am grateful to Professor Francis Kennedy who spearheaded the idea of this Special Issue as a tribute to the Frederick Fongsun Ling and to all the authors who contributed. All papers in this issue underwent strict anonymous peer review, consistent with the journal policy.