MILGRAM, Jerome H. Age 83, passed away December 20, 2021, at his home in Winchester, Massachusetts, with his family by his side. Jerry was the W. I. Koch Professor of Marine Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he taught since 1970. Jerry was a member of the National Academy of Engineers and recipient of the 2017 Gibbs Brothers Medal (awarded for outstanding contributions in the field of naval architecture and marine engineering). Jerry contributed to the development of many technologies associated with oceans: boat design, oil spill clean-up, tug and tow technology, underwater submersibles, and even holograms that detected plankton. He often worked closely with the United States Navy and the Coast Guard. Jerry was the design director and chief computer modeler for America3, which won the America's Cup in 1992 by using a more scientific approach to the design of racing yachts. Jerry was born in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania, on September 23, 1938, the oldest child of Samuel Milgram and Fannie (Marmor) Milgram. He loved sailing from an early age, and was captain of the sailing team at MIT, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1961 and his PhD in 1965. Even while teaching and doing research he loved outdoor activities including cycling, and sailing his self-designed boat, the Cascade. Jerry is survived by his wife, Robin (Horowitz) Milgram, his stepson and daughter-in law, Eben and Uromi Manage Goodale, his grandson, David Parakrama Goodale, his sister Linda (Milgram) Becker, his nephew Eric Ring and his wife Melissa Wallen, his late nephew Steven Ring and his wife Mary Ring, and their children, Andrew and Melissa. Jerry was kind, smart and witty. He was a devoted husband, and loving brother, father, uncle and grandfather, who will be deeply missed. An online Memorial Service, hosted by Eben and Eric, will occur on January 8, 2022. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Oceana (www.oceana.org), which is the largest international ocean conservation organization, or to MIT (giving.mit.edu).

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Published by Boston Globe from Dec. 28 to Dec. 29, 2021.

Memories and Condolences
for JEROME MILGRAM

11 Entries

Eben Goodale

December 23, 2024

Yesterday marked three years since Jer's passing. I'm happy to be spending the next week with my mom here in Boston (despite the brutally cold weather). It is nice that the first day of Hanukah coincides with Christmas, so I have a good holiday time, and that will give us some time to remember and reflect.

Mary Ring

January 8, 2022

Mary Ring

January 8, 2022

Mary Ring

January 8, 2022

Steven loved Uncle Jerry and we fondly remember our last visit with at Robin and Jerry's house years ago.

Eternal rest, grant unto Uncle Jerry's soul, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen
Love, Melissa, Andy, and Mary Ring

James Burgess

January 5, 2022

When I arrived at MIT as a graduate student back in 1979 I was expecting to find myself in a demanding and formal regime with clearly defined student - professor boundaries. I was in for a surprise. The person manning the MIT fire hose was Dr Jerome Milgram. First a teaching assistant, and later as a research assistant, I found myself in a regime that was demanding and casual, where the professor was whip, collaborator, friend and at times enemy. Life became a whirlwind of "get it done" lab, field and computer projects, conferences and technical papers set to the beat of class schedules and exams. There were many adventures, a few beautiful discoveries and I count my two years with Jerry as two of my best. He was a very smart and emotional soul that pushed and inspired, and all times kept life interesting.

William Ruh - Chairman of the US Sailing Foundation

January 4, 2022

As part of the A3 sailing team, as well as a crew member aboard Matador, I had a first hand opportunity to see Professor Milgram's design genius. He made tremendous contributions to naval architecture, and boats are faster today because of his hard work and dedication to the sport of sailing. His legacy will live on.

Chris Stow

January 3, 2022

Prof. Milgram was my UROP advisor at MIT for a summer in the late 90s. He set me up with a computer next to a huge water tank in Building 5 where I was tasked with manually digitizing sail shape images to help identify gaps in the sail inventory for the PACT 2000 America's Cup campaign using his velocity prediction program (VPP). Thanks to Prof. Milgram's role with the PACT 2000 team, I even had the opportunity to sail on the famous Young America Mermaid IACC yacht with Ed Baird. I'm reminded of Prof. Milgram every time I drive past America3 at the Herreshoff Museum on my way to sail at Bristol Yacht Club.

Eben Goodale

January 3, 2022

Dear friends,
We will have an on-line memorial service for Jerry on Saturday, January 8, at 10:00 AM Eastern Standard time (sign in starting at 9:45).
The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87646821145?pwd=TTM1ZmFVREQ1dTF3eVdsdUNtTTFHZz09
Meeting ID: 876 4682 1145 ; Password: 375085

Rick Wrightson

January 3, 2022

I had the pleasure of meeting and then knowing Jerry when he headed up the design program for Bill Koch's Maxiboat "Matador" which produced the world's fastest Maxi and won the Maxi World Championship. This then led Bill to the America's Cup and Jerry led the America3 campaign design team, producing the 1992 America's Cup winner, America3.

Jerry was a gifted academic and real-world yacht designer. It was a pleasure to know him and become his friend.

Ken Pomerantz

January 3, 2022

Thank you, Jerry, for unknowingly being an early "mentor" in my early life. Your humor, intelligence, and independent thinking was something I wanted to emulate. In your way, you were an inspiration to me.

Kim Vandiver

December 31, 2021

Jerry was my first research advisor when I returned from two years in the US Army Corps of Engineers to begin my PhD preparation. He had me doing experiments on water wave propagation in a small plastic-walled towing tank squeezed in next to the propeller tunnel. I learned a lot from him, from Fourier series and transforms to building ones own electronics and sensors. We had exciting and sometimes hilarious times racing Cascade in the Falmouth Regatta and other races. He shared funny tales, including disconnecting the steam radiator in his old Ashdown house dorm room for the purpose of making a steambox with which to bend oak parts for a boat he was working on. He was brilliant in multiple dimensions, electronics, mathematics, naval architecture and experiment design. Working with Jerry you learned to just dive in and try things. No intellectual fear. What I learned from him came back to help me again and again in my own research work. Thank you, Jerry. Prof. Kim Vandiver

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