Richard “Dick” Mortimer, a longtime professor, researcher and department head at Drexel University, passed away July 2, 2013, at Paoli Memorial Hospital at age 77.
Mortimer had an extraordinarily long and historic relationship to the University. He was the first person ever to receive a PhD at Drexel upon the acceptance of his dissertation, “Axisymmetric motions of nearly flat shells of revolution.” That 1967 achievement capped a career as a student that began when he enrolled in Drexel on the G.I. Bill after two years of service in the U.S. Army. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1962 and a master’s degree with the same focus in 1964.
After working with NASA, in 1967 Mortimer accepted a teaching position at Drexel, where he continued to work until his retirement in 1993. During that time he researched the response of structures to impact loads and the stress waves that were generated, with funding for his work provided by NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation. His findings were applied to the defense and aerospace industries and featured in more than 50 publications.
He was head of mechanical engineering and associate vice president for academic affairs at Drexel. He also received a number of awards as a professor, including “The Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award” and the “Dow Outstanding Young Faculty Award.”
His national honors included his election to vice chair, operations of the Engineering Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the board responsible for accrediting all college-level engineering courses in the United States.
He is survived by his wife, Doris; four sons; 12 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and a sister.