Oct 1, 2015 - Tamuzs returned to Latvia and joined the Institute of Polymer Mechanics in ... Polymer Mechanics he has conducted his academic career by ...
ZAMM · Z. Angew. Math. Mech. 95, No. 10, 991 (2015) / DOI 10.1002/zamm.201509555
Editorial 80th birthday of Prof. Vitauts Tamuzs Received 17 July 2015, accepted 20 July 2015 Published online 1 October 2015 C 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
On December 2, 2015 Professor Vitauts Tamuzs, full member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences and Academy Europaea, celebrates his 80th birthday. Prof. Tamuzs is highly regarded in the scientific community for his contributions to the field of mechanics of composite materials, in particular for theoretical and experimental studies of fracture and fatigue. Prof. Tamuzs conducted undergraduate studies in classical mechanics at the Moscow State University 1954–1959 and continued his post-graduate research under the advisement of Prof. Gavriil Shapiro. He was awarded a PhD degree in 1963 for his thesis “The uniqueness and method for the approximate solution of dynamical problems of rigid-plastic bodies”. Prof. Tamuzs returned to Latvia and joined the Institute of Polymer Mechanics in 1964 where he later became Head of the Fracture and Dynamics Laboratory. The institute was founded in 1963 and through more than 50 years of his scientific career Prof. Tamuzs has made significant contributions in the Institute’s development. He has served in many capacities at the Institute rising to the leadership position as Chairman of the Scientific Council. The present recognition of the Institute in the international scientific community of composite materials is largely due to the efforts of Prof. Tamuzs. As the leader of the Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Prof. Tamuzs established and maintained numerous contracts in the former Soviet Union with the industry and scientific community in various fields of composite materials. In more recent years he obtained support for the Institut’s activities from National and European sources. Vitauts Tamuzs is a brilliant scientist, organizer and excellent scientific teacher-supervisor. While at the Institute of Polymer Mechanics he has conducted his academic career by devoting part of his time to teaching as a Professor at University of Latvia. He has been a supervisor or consultant of numerous PhD students and scientists. Many of them currently hold leading academic and industrial positions around the world. He has been invited to deliver guest lectures at the universities and research centers in Germany, France, Russia, Sweden, Greece, China, Korea, Denmark, Estonia and USA. He two times served as the visiting professor (Lehigh University, USA, 1976; Berlin University of Technology, 1996). Vitauts Tamuzs has published more than 200 scientific papers, including 11 books in the field of mechanics of composite materials. He has been frequently invited to be plenary and keynote speaker at international conferences. For many years he has chaired the Organizing Committee of the well-known International Conferences on Mechanics of Composite Materials held in Riga, Latvia. This conference first started in 1965 and was called All-Union Conference on Polymer Mechanics and since 1993 the conference has had the present name. Prof. Tamuzs is Editor-in Chief of the journal Mechanics of Composite Materials, which is issued in both languages Russian and English. The English version is published by Springer. We are grateful to Prof. Tamuzs for his seminal and longtime contributions to mechanics of composites, and believe that he will continue to have an impact in research.
The Guest Editors Prof. Holm Altenbach (Magdeburg, Germany) ˇ Prof. Andris Cate (Riga, Latvia) Prof. Vera Petrova (Voronezh, Russian Federation) Prof. Ramesh Talreja (College Station, TX, USA)
C 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
