Luncheon
Tuesday, September 15, 2009, 11:35 am - 1:15 pm
Tire Society Distinguished Achievement Award Presentation
Dr. Samuel Clark (1924-2006) is the inaugural
recipient of the Tire Society Distinguished Achievement Award. This bi-annual award recognizes outstanding
contributors to tire science and technology.
A presentation will be given in his honor.
The life-time
achievement and record of contributions by Dr. Clark, (1924-2006), to tire
science and technology and his mentorship and support of technical
organizations make him an exemplary recipient for this reward.
Dr. Clark made
seminal contributions in research related to aircraft and automotive tires. His
work was sponsored by major rubber, automobile, and aircraft companies as well
as by the U.S. Air Force, NASA, NSF, and the Department of Transportation and
he authored over 100 journal articles and research reports. Dr. Clark was asked to write a book on tire
mechanics, and in 1971, the U.S. Bureau of Standards published his first
edition of “Mechanics of Pneumatic Tires.”
Since then, tire engineers have relied on “The Clark book” for detailed
information about the principles of tire design and use. In 1981, a substantially revised second
edition was published. Dr. Clark also served as chair of an Editorial Board
composed of leading executives of the tire industry, which provided guidance
during the monograph’s third revision.
Dr. Clark was a
founding member of The Tire Society, and presented the plenary lecture, by
invitation, at the first meeting of The Tire Society in 1982. He was an Associate Editor of The Journal of
Tire Science and Technology until his death.
He was also a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
The Society for Experimental Stress Analysis, the National Materials Advisory
Board Committee on Surface Effect Vehicles, and The Society of Automotive
Engineers. In honor of his many achievements, he was named a fellow of the
Society of Automotive Engineers in 1985.
Dr. Clark was a professor of mechanical engineering at the