1908–1997

Elected in 1981

“For pioneering studies in deformation and textures of engineering alloys and in electronic and magnetic characterization of complex alloy systems.”

BY EDGAR A. STARKE, JR.

PAUL A. BECK, Professor Emeritus of Metallurgy at the University of Illinois, died in Urbana, Illinois, on March 20, 1997, at the age of 89. He was elected a member of NAE in 1981 “for pioneering studies in deformation and textures of engineering alloys and in electronic and magnetic characterization of complex alloy systems.”

Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1908, Paul attended the Royal Hungarian Technological Institute in Budapest, where he studied mechanical engineering. He subsequently received an M.S. in metallurgy in 1929 from Michigan Technological University and conducted postgraduate research with Professor Michael Polanyi at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Metallurgy in Berlin, Germany, and Pierre Auger at the University of Paris, France. He returned to Michigan Technological University in 1935 to conduct research. He then worked as a research metallurgist in several industries from 1937 to 1945.

He began his academic career in 1945 at the University of Notre Dame, where he later became head of the Department of Metallurgy. He joined the faculty of the University of Illinois as professor of metallurgy in 1951 and retired as Professor Emeritus in 1975. He continued to conduct research and publish in scientific journals until 1989.