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Document Details


Title: Donald E. Hudson
Local code: CaltechOH:OH_Hudson_D
Document type: Oral history
Accessibility: Free Only
Repository: California Institute of Technology. Archives
Collection: Caltech Archives Oral Histories Online
Description: Interview in 1997 with Donald Ellis Hudson, professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics, emeritus, and a pioneer in the field of earthquake engineering. Hudson received his BS (1938), master's (1939), and PhD (1942, mechanical engineering) from Caltech and then joined the faculty of its Division of Engineering and Applied Science. After retiring from Caltech in 1981 with emeritus status, he moved to the USC School of Engineering, where he chaired the Department of Civil Engineering from 1981 to 1985. He was also president of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE) from 1980 to 1984. In this interview, Hudson comments on the development of earthquake engineering at Caltech; his collaboration with Caltech colleagues Frederick Lindvall, Romeo Martel, and George Housner; and his consulting work with General Petroleum Corporation in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He recalls his close association with the University of Roorkee, in India; the founding of the IAEE and the establishment of its periodic international conferences on earthquake engineering; his travels to Japan and to technical schools in South America; his consultation on the Bhakra Dam in India; and the development of civil engineering at USC. He also discusses the eccentric Caltech alumnus Edward Simmons, inventor of the strain gauge, and Simmons's legal battle with Caltech over the patent.
Extent: 86 pages
URL: http://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/archive/00000029/00/OH_Hudson_D.pdf
Restrictions: Granted permission for individual, educational, research and non-commercial reproduction, distribution, display and performance of this work in any format.
Original Language: English
Time span: Not indicated ... to 1997 (Year of interview)
Speaker: Hudson, Donald E., 1916-1999
Speaker gender: Male
Speaker date of birth: 1916
Speaker race: White
Speaker occupation: Professor
Age at speaking: 81
Document date: 12-Nov-1997
Interviewer: Cohen, Shirley K.
Organizations discussed: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
Locations discussed: California; North America; Pasadena, CA; United States
Topics discussed - ASP terms: California; California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA; College administrators; College teachers; North America; Oral history; Pasadena, CA; Physical sciences; State universities and colleges; United States; Universities and colleges--Departments
ASP release: 2005-06
Document code: OHI0026335-28453