Ali Argon (1930-2019)
Born and raised in Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey, Argon came to Purdue in the late 1940s and earned his bachelor of science in mechanical engineering in 1952. He then attended MIT to earn his master's degree in 1953 and a doctorate in 1956.
After two years in private business and two years of military duty with the Turkish Army Ordnance Corps in Ankara, Argon returned to MIT in 1960 to accept a faculty position; he stayed there for his entire decades-long career.
Argon’s pioneering research furthered the field’s understanding of inelastic deformation and fracture of materials including metals and alloys, ceramics, glasses, polymers, and composites. He combined novel experiments with theoretical and computational modeling to deepen the understanding of inelastic deformation and fracture of engineering materials. His research shed light on the connections between microstructure and macroscopic deformation and failure properties of engineering solids.
Having published 335 research works, Argon is one of the most-cited researchers in the field of mechanics of materials. Along with co-author Frank A. McClintock, he wrote the seminal text “Mechanical Behavior of Materials” in 1966. As one of the first books to provide an overview of the mechanical behavior of metals as well as ceramics, rubbers, and polymers, many consider the work as the beginning of the mechanics and materials field.
In 2005, Purdue University awarded Argon with an honorary doctorate. Among his other numerous awards and honors: in 1989, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for “major contributions to the understanding of deformation and fracture of engineering materials through the application of mechanics to microstructure." He was also made a fellow of the American Physical Society. Among his many awards are the ASME Nadai Medal, ETH’s Staudinder Durrer Medal, and the Heyn Medal of the German Materials Society.