Dr. Fazıl Erdoğan passed away peacefully at home on Oct. 2, 2015 surrounded by his wife of 54 years, Barbara, and their two children.
Fazıl was born in Kars, Turkey in 1925, the son of Hamit and Hanım Erdoğan. He came to the United States in 1952 to pursue a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering at Lehigh University. He returned to Lehigh in 1957 and served as a professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics until he retired in 2001, becoming G. Whitney Snyder Professor Emeritus. During his time at Lehigh he served as the Department Chairman and Interim Dean of Engineering and Applied Science.
Dr. Erdogan played a key role in developing fracture mechanics, a field of engineering vital to many industries including aeronautics, civil engineering and architecture. Through his pioneering efforts and collaboration with outstanding colleagues, Lehigh’s Department of Mechanical Engineering has maintained a reputation of academic excellence for more than 60 years. Among his many accolades, Dr. Erdogan was chosen in 1997 for membership in the National Academy of Engineering. He is a two-time recipient of the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Senior Scientist Award. He also published more than 200 scholarly articles. In 1998 Lehigh University hosted the International Symposium on Mechanics and Applied Mathematics in his honor. Those in attendance included the world’s foremost experts in the field. To this day, more than 40 Ph.D. students continue to build on his legacy. Fazıl also loved traveling, reading, skiing and most of all spending time with his grandchildren.
SURVIVORS
In addition to his wife Barbara, he is survived by his daughter Ann Tracy, wife of David Tracy, of Basel, Switzerland, and their four children, Nathanael, Emma, Harrison, and Semra, and his son Turan Erdoğan, husband of Mary, of Spencerport, N.Y., and their four children, Michal Ann, Malcolm, Remziye, and Samuel. As the fourth sibling of eight, Fazil is also survived by an extensive family in Turkey including his sister Sadet, brother Mahmut and a brother, Mehmet, along with his family in Canada.
SERVICES
Family, friends and colleagues are invited to attend Dr. Erdoğan’s memorial service at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015 at Packer Memorial Chapel at Lehigh University, 18 University Dr., Bethlehem. There will be no calling hours. Online expressions of sympathy can be recorded at www.heintzelmancares.com. The Heintzelman Funeral Home Inc., Hellertown, is in charge of arrangements.
CONTRIBUTIONS
In lieu of flowers, please make any contributions in his memory to the National Parkinson Foundation (www.parkinson.org).
