INFORMATIVO ABCM Nº 135/08 – Obituary Professor Emeritus M. Necati Özisik

OBITUARY

Professor Emeritus M. Necati Özisik
1923 – 2008

Professor Emeritus M. Necati Özisik was born on June 17, 1923 in Istanbul. After going through basic education in Turkey, he moved to England where he obtained his B.S. and Ph.D. from the University of London, in 1947 and 1950, respectively. Before becoming a faculty member at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in 1963, Prof. Özisik was the Head of the Technical Department of the Turkish State Enterprises in Ankara (1955-1957), and a Senior Research Scientist in the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning) Laboratory (1957-1959) and in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1959-1963). He retired as Professor Emeritus of NCSU’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department in 1998, where he spent most of his academic career. He was also a Visiting Professor for several occasions in INSA-Lyon, University of Nantes and ETH-Zurich.

Professor Özisik dedicated his life to education and research in heat transfer. His outstanding contributions made him recipient of several awards since 1952, including the Heat Transfer Memorial Award of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1987 and the Outstanding Engineering Educator Award of the American Society of Engineering Education in 1992. He is a recipient of the Science Award from the Turkish Scientific and Technical Research Council. This is the highest scientific award given by the Turkish government and was presented to Prof. Özisik by the President of Turkey in a special ceremony. Prof. Özisik was the main advisor of more than 50 doctoral students, most of them now holding prominent academic positions around the world. He published more than three hundred research papers in international journals and conferences. He was the author of eleven books, most of them best-sellers that were re-edited several times and published in different languages. His personal characteristics were apparent in all these books, where the material was rigorously presented in a clear, organized and systematic manner. As a result, his books became standards in graduate and undergraduate courses in many countries. His main contributions included analytical, numerical and hybrid solution techniques for direct and inverse problems, for coupled and uncoupled heat transfer modes.

Professor Özisik was a fine gentleman, who loved the arts through the music and painting. He was also dedicated to sports and could be found running daily in NCSU’s gymnasium almost until his retirement.

Professor Özisik passed away peacefully on October 04, 2008, while sleeping in his home in Turkey. His legacy is left for us and for those yet to come to the rich field of Heat Transfer.