Education
DSc, Washington University in St. Louis, 1974MSc, Washington University in St. Louis, 1971
BSc, University of Illinois, 1969
Expertise
Studies fatigue and fracture behavior of structural materials
Research
Kenneth L. Jerina’s research has been funded by government and industry and encompasses life prediction related to aircraft structure, constitutive modeling for engineering design, and fatigue behavior of structural materials. He has authored and co-authored 75 scholarly papers on: fatigue of conventional and advanced metallic, polymeric and composite materials; constitutive models for engineering design that are accurate and reliable; measurement of mechanical, time dependent and fatigue properties of silicone elastomers. He has mentored 35 Master and Doctoral students and advised numerous thesis and dissertation graduate students.
Biography
Professor Jerina is the Earl E. and Myrtle E. Walker Professor of Engineering and Associate Chairman of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Washington University in St. Louis. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois, his MS in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University, and a DSc in Mechanical Engineering, also from Washington University. Prior to returning to St. Louis to join the faculty of Washington University, Professor Jerina was a Materials Research Engineer at the Air Force Materials Laboratory, Director of the Experimental Mechanics Research Laboratory at MTS Systems Corporation, and Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University.
Over the course of his academic and industrial career, Professor Jerina has addressed a variety of engineering needs that are particularly relevant to materials engineering and has received numerous honors and awards including Outstanding Professional Engineer in Education from the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers (2014), ASTM Award of Appreciation (2013), Washington University School of Engineering Dean's Award for Extraordinary Service (2013), Washington University School of Engineering Excellence in Teaching Award (2011) and ASTM Award of Merit (2003) among others. In 2003, he was named Fellow of The American Society for Testing and Materials.