Raising funds to establish the Thomas K. Caughey Medal

Wing Kam Liu
Chair, Executive Committee, ASME International Applied Mechanics Division

A small fund-raising committee, chaired by Paul C. Jennings, Provost of Caltech, has been recently established to raise the $45,000 required by ASME to establish a permanent award in memory of the late Professor Thomas K Caughey, Richard L. and Dorothy M. Hayman Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Emeritus, at the California Institute of Technology, who passed away on 7 December 2004, at the age of 77. This society-wide award would be given annually to a deserving individual in the broad field of dynamics, and would be called the "Thomas K. Caughey Medal."

Professor Caughey was, for many years, heavily involved in ASME activities. He was a former editor of the Journal of Applied Mechanics. In recognition of his major contributions to the Applied Mechanics field, he was honored with the ASME Den Hartog Award in 1995. Professor Thomas K. Caughey was without a doubt one of the most influential members of the vibration community. His contributions are without equal, and have touched every engineer currently working in the field.

Even before the formal launching of the activities of this committee, more than $20,000 of the needed funds have already been donated. Individuals wishing to contribute to this endeavor can send their contribution to:

ASME Foundation
Attn: "Thomas Caughey Award Endowment"

Inquiries: Wing Kam Liu, w-liu@northwestern.edu