Eric Reissner

83, Well-Known Math Scholar, Dies

By TIM HILCHEY
Published: November 11, 1996
New York Times

Eric Reissner, a mathematician whose work in applied mechanics helped broaden the theoretical understanding of how solid objects react under stress and led to advances in both civil and aerospace engineering, died on Nov. 1 at the Pacific Regent Health Care Center in San Diego. He was 83 and lived in Solana Beach, Calif.

The cause of death was cancer, said Dr. Frieder Seible, his colleague at the University of California at San Diego, where Dr. Reissner was an emeritus professor of applied mechanics.

In a six-decade career, Dr. Reissner published more than 300 articles in scientific and technical journals. Many of those writings appear in the book ''Selected Works in Applied Mechanics and Mathematics'' (Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1996), which was edited by four former students.

Dr. Reissner is perhaps best known for the Reissner shear-deformation plate theory, which describes mathematically what happens to a flat surface when a force is applied to it. Engineers use it to analyze the external forces that act on structural surfaces like floors or the skin of airplane wings. For his work in solid mechanics, Dr. Reissner was honored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Many of Dr. Reissner's theoretical principles are routinely used by engineers to design safer bridges, buildings and airplanes, Dr. Seible said.

Dr. Reissner was born Jan. 5, 1913, in Aachen, Germany, and received a doctorate in applied mechanics from Berlin Technical University in 1935. Political developments in Germany led him to come to the United States in 1937. The following year, he received a doctorate in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he joined the faculty in 1939. He remained at M.I.T. until 1970, when he moved to the University of California at San Diego.

Among his many awards, Dr. Reissner received the Von Karman Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Timoshenko Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

In 1950, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the International Academy of Astronautics, among other affiliations.

Dr. Reissner is survived by his wife of 58 years, Johanna; a sister, Thea Wilcken of Colton, Ore; a son, John Eric, of Lumberton, N.C.; a daughter, Eva Reissner Ewing of Guilford, Conn., and five grandchildren.