It is with great sadness that the Department of Mechanical Engineering mourns the passing of Professor Emeritus G. M. “Bud” Homsy on March 12, 2024. He was a valued colleague, mentor, and friend at UBC Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics from 2010 to 2014, and as Deputy Director of UBC’s Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences. He continued to contribute to the university after retirement, through research and on the Faculty Applied Science Dean’s Advisory Council.
A leader in fluid mechanics and transport phenomena with over 150 publications, Dr. Homsy made significant contributions to his field. He taught for thirty years at Stanford’s Department of Chemical Engineering before joining UC Santa Barbara from 2001-2009, the University of British Columbia in 2010, and the University of Washington after his retirement. Serving in numerous leadership roles, he was Department Chair at Stanford and UC Santa Barbara, Chair of the Division of Fluid Dynamics at the American Physical Society, and Associate Editor of Physics of Fluids and the International Journal of Multiphase Flow. Among his many honours, he received the American Physical Society’s 2004 Fluid Dynamics Prize, an honorary doctorate from Paul Sabatier University in France, Fellow of the American Physical Society and Member of the US National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Homsy shared his expertise on advisory boards for Princeton Chemical Engineering, the US National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and NASA’s Science Board on Physics and Chemistry in Space.
UBC will honour Dr. Homsy by lowering the BC, Musqueam and UBC flags (temporarily relocated to the East Mall Entrance and Plaza at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre) on Thursday, April 11th, 2024. Donations in Dr. Homsy’s name may be made to the following organizations:
- The ACLU Foundation
- The Nature Conservancy
- Planned Parenthood
- The Southern Poverty Law Center