Jerry, born in 1933 was from Fergus Falls MN, and joined Purdue as a student athlete football player. After a shoulder injury led to him leaving the team, he found his home in Metallurgical Engineering, where he received a BS Met Eng in 1955, and a PhD in 1960 under the supervision of Prof. Pekka Rautala, where he did innovative work on x-ray diffraction for materials characterization. Starting as an instructor in this technique that was growing in popularity, he became an Assistant Professor in the School in 1959. He rose through the ranks to Associate Professor in 1965, Assistant Head in 1969 and Professor in 1973. In 1978, he was appointed as the fourth Head of the School of Materials Engineering, where he served the students and school for 21 years as it transitioned from its historical roots in Metallurgical Engineering to the current School of Materials Engineering. He retired from Purdue in 1999, having been at Purdue for almost 50 years. Purdue and West Lafayette are where he met his first wife, Carol Lee (d. 2003), and raised his children Barbara Liedl and Janice Liedl-Myatt. He has been recognized as a leader in materials characterization and x-ray diffraction, led national panels for developing beamline x-ray tools, been named a Fellow of ASM International, and received the Sagamore of the Wabash Award from the Governor of Indiana. The School of Materials Engineering expresses our sincere condolences to wife Emilee Cantieri, two daughters, granddaughters Eleanor and Constance Myatt; and his brother Robert (Melissa) Liedl, as well has his professional MSE family of faculty, staff, and many students and alumni he helped over the years.
