Jack E. Cermak, a pioneer in wind engineering and a longtime professor at Colorado State University, died Aug. 21. He was 89.
In 1954, Cermak built the first modern boundary wind tunnel — a tool that made it possible to test wind stress on buildings and how air pollution spreads.
“It was a big step forward,” said Jon Peterka, a former student of Cermak’s and who, with his teacher, founded CPP, a Fort Collins-based wind engineering firm.
In fact, Cermak and a handful of other engineers began developing the field long before it had a name, Peterka said. “The term wind engineering wasn’t coined until the 1970s. I think Jack came up with the name.”
Cermak was born Sept. 8, 1922, in the farm community of Hastings, near Trinidad. He attended CSU, where he received a bachelor’s degree in science and a master’s in hydraulic engineering. He received a Ph.D. in engineering mechanics from Cornell University.
The wind tunnels Cermak designed could do big jobs, including projecting the wind stress on New York City’s World Trade Center, and something as small as showing the gust a pedestrian would face leaving the building.
“This was a great tool for structural engineers, and we kept getting requests, and that led to CPP,” said Peterka.
The consulting firm has three wind tunnels in Fort Collins.
While Cermak pursued his research and built his business, he was also a professor concerned about education and about encouraging faculty-student advising.
In the 1980s, Cermak created an endowed scholarship, now called the Jack E. Cermak Wind Engineering Scholarship, which awards about $3,500 to a student or students.
In 1984, he also established the Jack E. Cermak Advising Award to honor excellence in academic advising.
“He really identified advising as an important function for a university,” said Tom Gorell, CSU associate provost and a early recipient of the award. “Since then, it has taken on a life of its own.”
Cermak’s commitment to both research and teaching made him unique, Gorell said.
“He was unusual because he was viewed as a big-time researcher, but he was also interested in education and teaching. Those usually don’t go together,” Gorell said. “He didn’t fit the usual mold.”
He was married for more than 50 years to Helen Carlson, who died in 2005. He married Gloria Garza in 2006.
Cemark is survived by his wife; sons Douglas, of Lusk, Wyo., and Jonathan of Fort Collins; and sister June Steepleton.
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912, mjaffe@denverpost.com or
