Shan-Fu Shen

Obituary
SHAN-FU SHEN
ITHACA - Shan-Fu Shen, Professor Emeritus of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University, passed away after a short illness in Ithaca, New York, on December 22, 2006. He was 85 years old.A distinguished scholar in aerodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer, Professor Shen joined the Cornell faculty in 1961. He taught and advised undergraduates and graduate students until his retirement in 1991. During his tenure at Cornell, he also held visiting professorships at the University of Paris (1964, 1969), the University of Rome, the Technical University of Vienna (1977), the Institute of Space Sciences at the University of Tokyo (1984-1985), South East University in Nanching, China, Taiwan University, and Central University in Taiwan.Born in Shanghai, China, in 1921, Shen received his Bachelor's of Science degree in 1941 from the prestigious National Central University in Chunking, China. Placing first in a nationwide competition, Shen received a scholarship to conduct his graduate studies abroad. He received his Sc.D. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1949.Following a year of postdoctoral research at M.I.T., Shen was appointed assistant professor at the University of Maryland. In addition to being a consultant to the David Taylor Ship Research and Development Center of the U.S. Navy, Shen was a Guggenheim fellow at the Eidgenössiche Technische Hochschule, Zürich, in 1957. In 1958, Shen received the Achievement Award from the Washington Academy of Sciences, and was elected fellow the same year.His many other honors include elected membership in the International Academy of Astronautics (1969), the Academia Sinica in Taiwan (1972), and the National Academy of Engineering (1985); Shen also received Germany's Alexander von Humboldt Senior Award in 1985.Shen is survived by his wife, Ming-Ming Shen; and his two children, Hsueh-Yung and Hsueh-Lang Shen. A gathering in memory of Shan-Fu Shen will be held at Kendal at Ithaca, in Ithaca, New York, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 Noon on Friday, December 29, 2006. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to institutions or charities of choice.