Hans Hornung Awarded Honorary Doctorate

Caltech professor emeritus Hans G. Hornung received an honorary doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, or ETH) Zurich, at a recent ceremony.

According to the award citation, Hornung was honored by ETH Zurich for his outstanding research contributions in the field of fluid dynamics and his "extraordinary ability to be inspiring when passing his knowledge on to his students."

Hornung, the C. L. "Kelly" Johnson Professor of Aeronautics, Emeritus, served as the fourth director of the Graduate Aeronautical (now Aerospace) Laboratories at Caltech.

"This is a very well-deserved international honor for Professor Hornung. As his colleague and a past director of the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at Caltech, I have firsthand knowledge of his dedication to research and teaching," says Ares J. Rosakis, Theodore von Kármán Professor of Aeronautics and professor of mechanical engineering, and chair of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science.

ETH Zurich rector Lino Guzzella presented the honorary degree to Hornung in a ceremony on November 17 in the Hauptegebaeude, the main building on the Zurich campus. The other recipient of the honor was Lord Martin Rees, former master of Trinity College, University of Cambridge, and the United Kingdom's Astronomer Royal.