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Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2004

Contact: Lisa Merkl
713.743.8192 (office)
713.605.1757 (pager)

LIFELONG CAREER ADDS UP TO TOP HONORS FOR UH MATH PROFESSOR
Professor Roland Glowinski Awarded Theodore von Kármán Prize

HOUSTON, July 12, 2004 – Whether applying math to the medical or petroleum industries, UH Professor Roland Glowinski considers his career to be one of his greatest rewards. Most recently, this impressive career has earned him another kind of reward – the 2004 Theodore von Kármán Prize.

Named for revered mathematician Theodore von Kármán, this international honor in the field of mathematics was established in 1968 and is only awarded every five years. Presented for notable applications of math made to mechanics or the engineering sciences in the five to 10 years preceding each award, the 2004 Theodore von Kármán Prize will be presented to Glowinski at the 2004 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Annual Meeting in Portland, Ore., at the Oregon Convention Center in the Oregon Ballroom 203-204, Thursday, July 15.

While the award may be given either for a single notable achievement or for a collection of such achievements, Glowinski was recognized by the selection committee for his “sustained outstanding contributions to mechanics and applied and computational mathematics, especially in the area of complex problems in fluid mechanics, many in the spirit of those of Theodore von Kármán.” As part of the $1,000 prize, Glowinski will give a 25-minute special lecture at 3 p.m., Wednesday, July 14, titled “On the Numerical Simulation of Incompressible Viscous Flow with Moving or Free Boundary: Applications.”

Well known for his research on new mathematic models of particular flow and for the application of mathematical and computational methods to the design of a new class of heart valves, Glowinski came to the University of Houston in 1985 and currently holds a Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Professorship in Mathematics, as well as being a mechanical engineering professor at UH. He also has been a docent professor since 2001 of the mathematics of information technology at the internationally recognized research campus of the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland.

No stranger to international accolades, Glowinski has had a long and distinguished career in mathematics, teaching and research on both sides of the Atlantic, having been born in Paris, France, and receiving his Ph.D. there from the University Pierre and Marie Curie (Paris VI). A corresponding member of the French National Academy of Sciences, Glowinski counts among his numerous international awards Knight of the French Order of the Academic Palms and induction as a chevalier in the Legion d’Honneur of France, the latter of which is the French equivalent to knighthood.

More recently, Glowinski received an honorary doctorate from the University of Jyvaskyla, where he has enjoyed a long association with the university and has been instrumental in facilitating the exchange of post-doctoral and graduate students between the University of Jyvaskyla and the University of Houston – a reciprocal relationship that has flourished over the past six to seven years. Glowinski also is a professor emeritus at the University Pierre and Marie Curie (Paris VI) and an adjunct professor of computational and applied mathematics at Rice University.

About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.

For more information about the 2004 SIAM Annual Meeting, visit http://www.siam.org/meetings/an04/

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