George N. Hatsopoulos
{{Short description|American mechanical engineer (1927–2018)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = George N. Hatsopoulos
| image = GeorgeHatsopoulos-2011-PittconAward.jpg
| caption = Hatsopoulos in 2011
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|1|7}}
| birth_place = Athens, Greece
| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|9|20|1927|1|7}}
| death_place = Lincoln, Massachusetts, U.S.
| nationality =
| field = Mechanical engineering
| work_institution = Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| doctoral_advisor =
| awards = John Fritz Medal (1996)
}}
George Nicholas Hatsopoulos (January 7, 1927 – September 20, 2018) was a Greek American mechanical engineer noted for his work in thermodynamics and for having co-founded Thermo Electron.
Early life
Hatsopoulos was born in Athens, Greece in 1927{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zecLAQAAMAAJ&q=%22HATSOPOULOS,+GEORGE+NICHOLAS,+*%22+1927 | title=Who's who in Finance and Industry| year=1999| isbn=9780837903347| last1=Who| first1=Marquis Who's| publisher=Marquis Who's Who.}} and is related to{{how|date=June 2016}} the former rector of the Athens Polytechnic School, Nicolas Kitsikis. He attended Athens Polytechnic before entering MIT, where he received his Bachelor and Master of Science (1950), Mechanical Engineer (1954), and Doctorate of Science (1956).MIT. (1956) Appointments To Administrative Positions And Four Faculty Changes Announced. The Tech. LXXVI No. 15, 3 http://tech.mit.edu/V76/PDF/N15.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511145702/http://tech.mit.edu/V76/PDF/N15.pdf |date=2012-05-11 }}
Hatsopoulos-Keenan reformulation of thermodynamics
In 1965, he and Joseph Keenan published their textbook Principles of General Thermodynamics, which restates the second law of thermodynamics in terms of the existence of stable equilibrium states.{{cite book | last = Hatsopoulos | first = George, N. | author2 = Keenan, Joseph, H. | title = Principles of General Thermodynamics | url = https://archive.org/details/principlesofgene00hats | url-access = registration | publisher = John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | year = 1965 | id = CCN 65-12709}} Their formulation of the second law of thermodynamics states that:
{{cquote|When an isolated system performs a process after the removal of a series of internal constraints, it will reach a unique state of equilibrium: this state of equilibrium is independent of the order in which the constraints are removed.}}
The Hatsopoulos-Keenan statement of the Second Law entails the Clausius, Kelvin-Planck, and Carathéodory statements of the Second Law,{{cite book | last = Gyftopoulos | first = Elias, P. |author2=Beretta, Gian Paolo | title = Thermodynamics. Foundations and Applications | publisher = Dover Pu., Inc. | year = 2005 | isbn = 0-486-43932-1}} and has provided a basis to extend the traditional definition of entropy to the non-equilibrium domain. Hatsopoulus and Keenan maintained that it is unlikely to identify a satisfactory definition of heat without a prior statement of the second law.{{Cite journal |last=Beretta |first=Gian Paolo |date=June 2008 |title=Axiomatic Definition of Entropy for Nonequilibrium States |journal=International Journal of Thermodynamics |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=39–48}}
In 1976, Hatsopoulos also contributed to a formulation of a unified theory of mechanics and thermodynamics, arguably a precursor of the emerging field of quantum thermodynamics.See, e.g., http://www.quantumthermodynamics.org {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529193614/http://www.quantumthermodynamics.org/ |date=2010-05-29 }}
Academic and industry leader
While at MIT, Hatsopoulos was head of the engineering division of Matrad Corporation of New York. Matrad Corporation and MIT also provided financial support for his doctoral thesis The Thermo-Electron Engine.Hatsopoulos, George Nicholas. (1956). The Thermo-Electron Engine. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/12098 Matrad Corporation was owned by the family of Peter M. Nomikos, a Harvard Business School graduate. In 1956, Nomikos and Hatsopoulos co-founded the Thermo Electron Corporation. Several years later, George asked his brother (John Hatsopoulos) to join the company as financial controller.It Don't Mean a Thing If You Ain't Got that Green: HBS and the Birth of Venture Capital. HBS Bulletin Online, December 1996. http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/1996/december/start.html Under George Hatsopoulos, Thermo Electron became a major provider of analytical instruments and services for a variety of domains. John Hatsopoulos, and Arvin Smith.{{cite web|title=George and John Hatsopoulos, and Arvin Smith|url=http://www.chemheritage.org/visit/events/awards/affiliate-partnership-awards/pittcon-hof-hatsopouloses-smith.aspx|publisher=Chemical Heritage Foundation|access-date=26 June 2013|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712210812/http://www.chemheritage.org/visit/events/awards/affiliate-partnership-awards/pittcon-hof-hatsopouloses-smith.aspx|archive-date=July 12, 2016}} In 1965, George Hatsopoulos was president of the Thermo Electron Engineering Corporation and Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at M.I.T..
Recognition
In 1961, Hatsopoulos received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}} In 1996, Hatsopoulos won the John Fritz Medal, which is the highest American award in the engineering profession and presented each year for scientific or industrial achievement in any field of pure or applied science. In 1997, he was awarded the 3rd Annual Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy and Employment.[http://www.heinzawards.net/recipients/george-hatsopoulos The Heinz Awards, George Hatsopoulos profile]
In 2011, along with Arvin Smith and John Hatsopoulos, he was awarded the 2011 Pittcon Heritage Award from the Chemical Heritage Foundation.{{cite web|title=Pittcon Heritage Award|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/pittcon-heritage-award|website=Science History Institute|date=31 May 2016|access-date=27 March 2018}}
Hatsopoulos is also a recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}
He died on September 20, 2018, at the age of 91.[http://concordfuneral.tributes.com/obituary/show/George-Nicholas-Hatsopoulos-106441457 George Hatsopoulos Obituary] His net worth was reported as US$481 million in 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ellines.com/en/good-news/33197-50-wealthiest-greek-americans/|title = National Herald - 50 wealthiest Greek-Americans for 2017}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716031053/http://www3.babson.edu/ESHIP/outreach-events/George-N-Hatsopoulos.cfm George Hatsopoulos] - Biography
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20081129090441/http://www.nae.edu/nae/naepub.nsf/Members+By+UNID/1151A476933D100A85256FFC004A42F6?opendocument George Hatsopoulos] - National Academy of Engineering, chairman and CEO
{{Henry Laurence Gantt Medal}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatsopoulos, George N.}}
Category:American people of Greek descent
Category:MIT School of Engineering faculty
Category:American mechanical engineers
Category:American manufacturing businesspeople
Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering