News of Note

Behind the larger stories about the University of Pittsburgh are other stories of faculty, staff, and student achievement as well as information on Pitt programs reaching new levels of success. The following is a compilation of some of those stories.

Emeritus Professor of Physics Edward Gerjuoy, Still Conducting Research at Age 94, Gives Digital Lecture for TEDx Event in the Netherlands 
Edward Gerjuoy, Pitt professor emeritus of physics and astronomy who is still conducting research at age 94, gave a digital lecture for an April 8 Technology, Entertainment, Design (TEDx) conference in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Although he could not attend the event titled “Accelerate from Age 0 to 110,” Gerjuoy recorded a lecture, which was aired live at the conference. TEDx conferences are events held worldwide that typically include a series of inspirational speakers who talk about their passions.

In his talk, now available on YouTube, Gerjuoy discusses his education and career, and how, at the age of 64, he first retired from Pitt. He recalls his experiences after age 64, when he served as a consultant for a law firm (he’d achieved his Juris Doctorate in 1977 while teaching at Pitt) and returned to physics around age 85. Today, he has immersed himself in the study of quantum computing—a field that was, he says, unimaginable when he was in graduate school in the 1940s. Of his good health, he credits just “pure good luck” and his intellectual curiosity. 

Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0HqWPWcz-U&feature=youtu.be to see Gerjuoy’s lecture. 

Engineering Professor Jeen-Shang Lin Elected Fellow by American Society of Civil Engineers

Jeen-Shang Lin, a professor of civil and environmental engineering in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering, was recently elected a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. It is a prestigious honor held by less than than 5 percent of the society’s members. Fellows are legally registered professional engineers or land surveyors who have made significant technical or professional contributions to their fields and have demonstrated notable achievement in engineering activity for at least 10 years. 

Lin has served as the advisor for the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers for more than 15 years. His recent research has focused on drilling mechanics and the geomechanical behavior of methane-hydrate-bearing deposits. Over the years he has worked on projects including earthquake engineering, plate tectonics, and the mechanics of biological cells.