Interview with Donald E. Hudson

Abstract

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.