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HolT asHley
1923–2006
elected in 1970
“For contributions to the field of aeroelastic structures and
unsteady aerodynamics, aiding in the solution of problems in
vibration and gust loading.”
By BriaN J. caNTWell aNd george s. sPriNger
HolT asHley, professor emeritus of aeronautics and
astronautics and of mechanical engineering at stanford
University, whose methods changed the design of structures
from wings to wind turbines, died on May 9, 2006, at the age
of 83.
His contributions were diverse and multidisciplinary.
While he is known for his pioneering research and books in
the field of aeroelasticity—the combination of aerodynamics
and structures—he wrote classic textbooks in aerodynamics
and aircraft engineering as well.
Professor ashley served on committees and advisory
boards of Naca, the National advisory committee for
aeronautics, the predecessor of the National aeronautics and
space administration; Nasa itself; the air force; the Navy;
and the National research council as well as of the aerospace
industry. from his work on the Naca subcommittee on
vibration and flutter to a review of space-shuttle tile safety,
Holt ashley applied fundamental approaches to a wide area
of practical engineering problems.
Professor ashley was elected to the National academy of
engineering in 1970.
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34 MeMorial TriBUTes
Holt ashley was born January 10, 1923, in san francisco. His
father Harold had served in World War i and was a prominent
businessman by the time World War ii broke out. Nonetheless,
he reenlisted. The younger ashley felt intense guilt that it was
his father and not he who was serving and took leave from
the california institute of Technology, where he had been a
sophomore, to join the army air corps. after training at the
University of chicago where he earned his undergraduate
degree in meteorology, he served in the war as a weather
forecaster and reconnaissance officer flying with squadrons
over the North atlantic and europe. The experience spawned
his first paper “Icing in North West Europe” and earned him
six military medals. Professor ashley was 6 feet 8 inches tall,
a height that prevented his acceptance as a pilot during World
War ii. shortly after joining stanford in 1967, he achieved his
dream by obtaining his pilot’s license.
after earning his master’s degree (1948) and doctoral degree
(1951) in aeronautical engineering from the Massachusetts
institute of Technology, Holt ashley rose through the faculty
ranks at MiT to become associate professor in 1954 and full
professor in 1960.
in 1964 he helped establish the department of aeronautical
Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur,
India, and served as the first head of the department. He taught
there during the very first year of the institute, wrote a classic
book, and inspired a generation of young indian engineers.
He maintained good relations with his former students and
colleagues in the decades after leaving the department. one
of the young indian engineers whom he inspired was his
colleague in the department of aeronautics and astronautics,
Professor Sanjiva Lele, who was a graduate of ITT Kanpur and
the department that Holt ashley helped to found.
ashley returned to his native california in 1967 to join
stanford University as a professor in the department of
aeronautics and astronautics. His students remember him
as a patient mentor whose door was always open and whose
meticulous lectures were models of clarity. He was extremely
supportive of minority students, including african americans,
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HolT asHley
and vigorously encouraged them in their studies. He also was
passionately committed to fairness in the promotion of the
careers of women in academe. He wrote an angry letter to
one of the national committees on which he served in protest
against the repression of the career of a woman scholar and
threatened to boycott any further meetings until there was
a change of heart. He wrote a letter in protest against the
treatment of the chinese american scientist Wen Ho lee, who
was falsely accused of stealing nuclear secrets on behalf of the
People’s republic of china while employed at los alamos
National laboratory providentially the day before all but one
charge was dropped, so his letter was not actually sent, though
it was signed by both Professor ashley and his assistant at his
request.
after the death of his wife, frances day ashley, his social
life centered on his affiliations with the Bohemian Club of San
francisco, of which he was a member from 1962. He enjoyed
the camaraderie of his fellow sundodgers (one of the camps
at the Bohemian grove in Northern california), and all of
the social, literary, and cultural activities of the club. He also
liked to invite his colleagues in the department of aeronautics
and astronautics to join him at events that took place in the
magnificent setting of the Bohemian Club in San Francisco and
at the Bohemian grove encampment near the russian river.
Besides his involvement with the Bohemian club, he also
served on the board of the civic association for the Town
of Woodside. He was very much involved in the study of
the impact that expansion of the runways at san francisco
international airport would have through increased noise
over the Bay area and his community.
Professor emeritus (research) richard christensen recalled
a visit to Holt ashley, who had been bedridden for some
time, a week before his death. Professor ashley said to him,
“Please tell your lovely wife hello,” not goodbye. The spirit
of thoughtfulness and grace toward others that had always
characterized his professional and social life he maintained to
the very end of his life.
His one vice was his fondness for cigars. When stanford
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36 MeMorial TriBUTes
University instituted an antismoking policy inside university
buildings, he found it necessary most afternoons after teaching
his classes and meeting with his students to retreat to a small
company on whose board he sat near california avenue in Palo
alto so that he could smoke his cigars to his heart’s content.
He had a tremendous sense of humor. at the end of a
committee’s first meeting he would make a motion to terminate
the committee to stimulate the discussion that would test its
worth. With Bob Halfman, one of his coauthors, he formed a
consulting company to work on aircraft design—they called it
Half-ash aeronautical consultants.
Professor ashley became emeritus in 1989. The former
aero/astro chair george s. springer, the Paul Pigott
Professor of engineering, observed that Professor ashley took
early retirement to enable the department to hire new young
faculty. He then proceeded to carry a full load of teaching and
research for the following years without pay until a couple of
years before his passing.
Holt ashley’s honors include the 2003 daniel guggenheim
Medal, which is jointly sponsored by the american institute of
aeronautics and astronautics (aiaa), the american society
of Mechanical engineers, and the society of automotive
engineers, and the 2006 reed aeronautics award of the aiaa,
two of the highest awards in aeronautics and astronautics. it
was with great sadness that his physical decline was such that
he was unable to attend the annual meeting of the aiaa and
ceremony, where the latter award was to have been presented
to him acknowledging that he had scaled the pinnacle of
achievement in his discipline.
He was a man totally without guile and ill will toward
any. He relished the opportunity to nominate colleagues for
recognition and awards in the several prestigious professional
societies of which he was himself a member, including the
National academy of engineering and the american academy
of Arts and Sciences. Many of his colleagues benefited from
the weight his own professional recognition brought to bear
in their behalf through his championing of their professional
advancement. Holt ashley will forever be remembered in
every respect as a gentleman and a scholar.
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HolT asHley
His work has been published in about 100 journal articles
and five books: Aeroelasticity, Thickness and Boundary Layer
Effects, Principles of Aeroelasticity, Aerodynamics of Wings and
Bodies, and Engineering Analysis of Flight Vehicles.
He is survived by his sister, Joan ashley ennis, and his
nephews, Ashley Ennis and Holt Ennis. His sister wrote, “We
shall never stop loving him.”
