Papers of Jack E. Cermak

Dr. Jack E. Cermak (1992-2012) was a member of the faculty at Colorado State University (CSU) for more than fifty years. He was an alumnus of the college, receiving a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering (1947) and a master's in Hydraulic Engineering (1949) before earning a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Cornell University in 1959. Upon completion of his master's degree, Cermak remained at Colorado A&M College (now CSU) as a teaching assistant and instructor in civil engineering and was appointed assistant professor in 1951. He remained in this position until 1954 when he accepted the position of John McMullen Scholar in Engineering Mechanics at Cornell University. Cermak returned to CSU after completing his Ph.D. in 1959. He retired in 1997. In 1981, he co-founded the consulting engineering firm Cermak Peterka Petersen, Inc. and was its president until 2006.

Upon his return to CSU in 1959, Cermak founded the Fluid Dynamics and Diffusion Laboratory and later established the Fluid Mechanics and Wind Engineering Program, serving as Director and Professor-in-Charge of the program until 1985. His groundbreaking research lead to the development of unique wind-tunnel facilities capable of simulating motion in the atmospheric boundary layer. Among his projects, he led important studies of wind impacts on San Francisco's Candlestick Park, the Sears Tower (now called the Willis Tower) in Chicago, and New York City's World Trade Center.

Among Cermak's many honors, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1973 for his studies of physical modeling of wind effects on buildings and dispersion of air pollutants. In 1986 he was selected as one of the six inaugural University Distinguished Professors at CSU. In 2000, the American Society of Civil Engineers' Engineering Mechanics Division/SEI established the Jack E. Cermak Medal to recognize his lifetime achievements in the field of wind engineering and industrial aerodynamics. The medal is awarded for outstanding contributions to research and/or practice in engineering for cumulative distinguished contributions. Cermak's Fluid Dynamics and Diffusion Laboratory was selected by the National Society of Professional Engineers to receive the 1988 Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award, and in 1999, the CSU wind tunnels were selected by the Engineering News-Record as one of 125 great engineering innovations between 1874 and 1999.

Jack Cermak was born in Hastings, Colorado to Joe and Helen Cermak on September 8, 1922. In 1949, Cermak married Helen Carlson. The Cermaks adopted two sons, Douglas and Jonathan. Helen Cermak died in 2005. In 2006 he married Gloria Garza. Jack Cermak died on August 21, 2012.