Dr. Paul S. Lykoudis 1926 - 2013
| Event Date: | November 7, 2013 |
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Dr. Paul S. Lykoudis, professor emeritus of Purdue University, passed away on October 13th, 2013. Born in 1926, he received his Bachelor’s degree in 1950 in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece.
He came to Purdue on a Fulbright Scholarship and received his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1954 and his Doctorate in 1956. Dr. Lykoudis had specialized in the areas of heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid flow.
He started his academic career in January 1956 as an assistant professor of aeronautical engineering where he was assigned to teach an aerodynamics courses. He also offered one of the first graduate courses in magneto-hydro-dynamics at any university. His research in this new and exciting filed was widely recognized at the time, as indicated by his presence at national and international meetings. In 1957, Dr. Lykoudis developed a new course in astrophysics which was taught by jointly with Dr. Hsu Lo.
Dr. Lykoudis became an associate professor in September 1958 and professor in September 1960. By 1963, in the Aerospace Sciences Laboratory, experimental research was under way on magneto-fluid-mechanics using liquid mercury as a working fluid. This project was developed by Dr. Lykoudis and his graduate students with support of the National Science Foundation. This research produced a number of PhD thesis during the following years.
He was named Associate Head on January 1, 1972. He was the Director of the Aerospace Sciences Laboratory from 1968 to 1973 and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
He was named head of the School of Nuclear Engineering in 1973 and retired in 1992. During his retirement years he completed a full translation of Homer’s Odyssey into Modern Greek in a way which showed the close connection between the ancient and the modern languages. The first rhapsody “Rhapsody A – Athena advises Telemachus” was published in October 1999 by the Hestia Publishing Company of Athens and was acclaimed by critics.