Merle Potter

Merle Potter '58 was awarded the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2008 James Harry Potter (no relation) Gold Medal. Potter received the award "for making a renowned impact on thermodynamics through forty-two years of outstanding teaching and through published textbooks on thermal sciences and applied mathematics, and for research on energy consumption in dwellings and industrial plants."

Potter earned a BS in 1958 and an MS in 1961 in Engineering Mechanics from Tech and a master's and PhD from the U of M. He joined MSU in 1965 as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, becoming a full professor in 1974. He retired in 1998 and continues to write.

He has written numerous research papers and has authored and coauthored twenty-six textbooks and exam-review books.


Excerpted from Michigan Tech Magazine, Winter 2008-2009