In Memoriam: Professor Peter Griffith (1927–2022)

Abstract

Professor Peter Griffith died on Mar. 5, 2022, at the age of 94. Pete served in the heat transfer laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for more than 60 years. Pete's research encompassed two-phase flow, nucleate boiling, dropwise condensation, heat transfer to supercritical fluids, water hammer, and nuclear reactor safety. He also consulted extensively on thermal and nuclear engineering.Pete joined the heat transfer lab as a doctoral student in 1952, and he went on to become the longest-serving faculty member in the lab's 150-year history [1]. The heat transfer lab is in a basement, but Pete nevertheless kept his office inside this lab, rather than taking a more sumptuous office on MITs Great Courtyard. As a result, Pete engaged with every student who worked in the lab up to 2012. He provided technical advice, experimental guidance, mentorship, and critical feedback without hesitation—no matter who was the student's actual advisor. His influence, accordingly, was enormous.