Rosakis Elected to Academia Europaea

Ares J. Rosakis, the Theodore von Kármán Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering and Otis Booth Leadership Chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science, has been elected to the Academia Europaea in the section of Physics and Engineering Sciences.

The academy, similar to the National Academy of Sciences, aims to promote a wider appreciation of European scholarship and research, and to encourage the highest possible standards of scholarship. Members of the academy represent a diverse range of fields in the sciences and humanities.

A native of Greece, Rosakis earned a BA and MA in engineering science from Oxford University and a PhD in solid mechanics from Brown University. He joined the Caltech faculty in 1982. Rosakis has conducted research in aerospace, solid mechanics, and the mechanics of earthquake seismology. He is a leading expert in the area of dynamic failure of solid materials.

As chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science at Caltech, Rosakis has spearheaded multiple collaborations with European academic and research institutions. These include establishing programs with École Polytechnique and Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace in France as well as with University of Seville in Spain. Rosakis has received numerous awards, including the Commandeur de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques, a decoration created by Napoleon to honor educators and scholars. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Science. In addition to the Academia Europaea, he is a fellow of two other European academies, the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Academy of Athens.

The election took place in July 2014 at the 26th Annual Conference of the Academia Europaea. Rosakis joins Caltech Provost Edward Stolper, the Carl and Shirley Larson Provostial Chair and William E. Leonhard Professor of Geology; President Emeritus and Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Biology David Baltimore; and Howard and Gwen Laurie Smits Professor of Cell Biology Alexander Varshavsky as members of the academy.