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HUNTER ROUSE
1906–1996
Elected in 1966
“For hydraulics and fluid mechanics.”
BY CORNELIA F. MUTEL AND ROBERT ETTEMA
SUBMITTED BY THE NAE HOME SECRETARY
P ROFESSOR HUNTER ROUSE, long-term director of the Iowa
Institute of Hydraulic Research (now IIHR-Hydroscience &
Engineering) at the University of Iowa and subsequently dean
of that institution’s College of Engineering, died on October 16,
1996, in Sun City, Arizona, at the age of 90.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, on March 29, 1906, Rouse studied civil
engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
where he received his undergraduate degree in 1929. He then
spent two years as an MIT traveling fellow visiting hydraulics
laboratories in Germany, where he met Dorothee Hüsmert, who
was to become his wife of more than 60 years and the mother
of their three children. Rouse received an M.S. in civil
engineering from MIT in 1932 and a doctoral degree in civil
engineering hydraulics from the Technical University at
Karlsruhe the same year. Later, in 1959, he received a doctorate
in fluid mechanics from the Sorbonne, University of Paris.
While in Karlesruhe, Rouse became familiar with Theodor
Rehbock’s River Hydraulics Laboratory and with other newly
established laboratories in Germany working on hydraulics and
fluid mechanics. He quickly recognized the importance of
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228 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
l aboratory experiments and recent developments in
understanding the fluid mechanics of turbulent flow, for
advancing engineering hydraulics — that is, the mechanics of
water flow processes. This recognition became the focus of his
career.
In 1932, Rouse returned to MIT as an instructor and
conducted research on weirs and spillways. He subsequently
taught courses on hydraulics as an instructor at Columbia
University in New York and then became an assistant professor
in fluid mechanics at California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena. At Caltech, he also conducted research at the Soil
Conservation Service Sedimentation Laboratory. He came to
IIHR as a professor of fluid mechanics in 1939 and was
appointed director in 1944. In 1966, he was appointed dean of
engineering, but he returned to a research position at IIHR in
1972.
Hunter Rouse’s primary contribution was the application of
fluid-mechanics theory, illuminated and validated by laboratory
experimentation, to hydraulics. His hydraulics work put
hydraulic engineering on a more rational plane than it had
previously occupied.
Rouse championed the application of fluid mechanics to
hydraulic engineering in many ways. He authored the first
American textbook explaining hydraulics in terms of the
principles of fluid mechanics, and he initiated and taught classes
on the subject at the University of Iowa. He also established
teaching laboratories, for which he designed some of the
equipment himself.
He insisted that IIHR put great emphasis on theoretical
research, and his own research provided early insights into
general principles of hydraulics, especially the importance of
turbulence. Under Rouse’s leadership, IIHR became the
preeminent U.S. center for hydraulics research and education,
and the name Hunter Rouse became synonymous with
excellence in fluids-engineering research, education, and
application. Hunter Rouse was both energetic and driven. He
insisted on high standards for his students, as well as for his
own work. He organized several landmark conferences on
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HUNTER ROUSE
hydraulics. A world traveler, he also organized highly regarded
exchange programs and tirelessly promoted international
goodwill and cooperation among hydraulics research
organizations.
A leading authority on the history of hydraulics, he wrote
two books and established a renowned rare book collection on
the subject. In all, he authored or edited seven books, including
a highly praised set of textbooks, wrote more than 130 technical
papers, supervised more than 80 graduate students (many of
whom became leading figures in the field), and produced a set
of six instructional films on fluid mechanics and hydraulics.
These films and some of his books are still in use.
Rouse was elected to the National Academy of Engineering
in 1966. In addition, he was a fellow of the American Academy
of Arts and Science (1958) and an honorary member of the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1967), American
Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) (1973), and International
Association for Hydraulic Research (1985). He was a Fulbright
Research Scholar (1952–1953), and, in 1963, the recipient of the
ASCE Theodore von Kármán Medal. In 1975, he was awarded
an honorary doctorate by the University of Karlsruhe, given,
in part, for his “pioneering achievements in fundamental
research and instruction in theoretical hydraulics.” In 1979,
ASCE established an annual lectureship in his name, and, in
1980, presented him with the ASCE History and Heritage
Award.
In 1991, Hunter Rouse received the American Association
of Engineering Societies’ highly prestigious John Fritz Medal,
“for pioneering the application of fluid mechanics to hydraulics,
fusing theory and experimental techniques to form the basis
for modern engineering hydraulics.” This commendation
summarized both his hopes and his achievements. He also
received many additional awards for his research publications
and educational accomplishments.
After his retirement from the University of Iowa in 1976, he
moved to Arizona, but he continued to teach summer courses
in hydraulics at Colorado State University, and occasionally
lectured at Arizona State University, until he was 82. He also
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230 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
became an amateur lapidary hobbyest, and, characteristically,
he not only polished stones, but also published articles on the
subject. He also continued to publish articles on the history of
hydraulics. Thus, to the end of his life, he never lost his
intellectual curiosity or lowered the high standards he had
always embodied.
His is survived by his widow, Dorothee Rouse; two sons,
Richard H. Rouse and his wife, Mary, and Allan H. Rouse; a
daughter, Patricia M. Heubner, and her husband, Glenn; and
six grandchildren.
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