Dr. Chet Grosch Symposium
on
"The Art of Fluid Dynamics"

Background:

Dr. Chester E. Grosch received a M.E. (Degree of Mechanical Engineer) in Engineering in 1956, a M.S. in Mathematics in 1959, and Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics with an emphasis on Fluid Dynamics in 1967, all from Stevens Institute of Technology. Dr. Grosch spent time at Columbia University, the Pratt Institute, and the University of Reading before joining the faculty of Old Dominion University (ODU) in 1973. He is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (OEAS) and a founding member of the Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography (CCPO). He also held a joint appointment in Computer Science at ODU. He was honored with the ODU Distinguished Research Career Award in 2005.

Dr. Grosch is one of the few remaining people in the USA with a classical training in mathematics and physics, and he couples this with many years of experience in a wide variety of research and in applications of this challenging subject. His curriculum vita and publications speak for themselves. He has over 100 publications in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, which span an impressive range of subjects that include the physics of supersonic flows, numerical simulation of turbulence, time series methods, boundary layer dynamics, parallel computing methods, and climate dynamics. His scientific breadth is indeed impressive. This same breadth is reflected in the range of courses he taught during his academic career. He is currently writing an undergraduate geophysical fluid dynamics textbook and continues to develop new material for courses, as well as advise graduate and undergraduate students.

Dr. Ann Gargett (Emerita Professor, OEAS, ODU), a long-time colleague and collaborator, describes Dr. Grosch as a remarkable teacher and scholar. She notes that for many younger colleagues, students, and herself, Dr. Grosch has been the person to go to when things mathematical rear their ugly heads. He is unfailing with his time and skills, and will doubtless continue in this role into the foreseeable future, enriching the academic lives of at least another couple of generations of graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and colleagues.

In addition to actual theory, Dr. Grosch has extensive skills with the high-level numerical modeling that now defines progress in turbulence studies. With his former postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Andres Tejada-Martinez, he developed a new model of turbulent processes in shallow coastal oceans that has become a community standard. Even more rare is his ability to interact with observationalists, framing the setup of models to mimic observable reality as closely as possible, and then analyzing model results in the context of the observations.

There is every reason to expect that Dr. Grosch will continue to provide intellectual guidance and advice for colleagues and students. He defines the role of a senior scientist who is willing to share his immense experience and expertise. He is well deserving of the designation of Emeritus Professor. This Symposium celebrates Dr. Grosch's contributions to "The Art of Fluid Dynamics".

Symposium Structure:

• Nonlinear Mathematics and Flow Analysis
• Time Series Analysis in Earth Systems
• Understanding of Turbulence