Biographical and Bibliographic Information

William O. Criminale
Professor (Joint with Geophysics and Oceanography)

Professor Criminale completed his baccalaureate degree at the University of Alabama in 1955. He received his doctorate at the Johns Hopkins University in 1960. His research focuses on the areas of initial-value problems in shear flows, large-scale oscillations in turbulent flows, mixing, and nonlinear mechanics. Professor Criminale is supported in his research by several agencies. Professor Criminale is the recipient of many honors which include: the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Research Award; Fellow, American Physical Society; Guest Scientist, Stanford-Ames Turbulence Research Center; the Faculty Research Award, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories; and a Royal Society Fellow in the United Kingdom. He has also been a guest professor in Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, Scotland and Sweden.

Currently, Professor Criminale is concentrating his research in the general area of fluid mechanics and modeling. Of particular interest are problems dealing with the breakdown of laminar flows and transition to turbulence. Particle dynamics, mixing and flow control are other topics investigated using methods developed in the fields of stability and turbulence. Prototypical flows range from channel flows and boundary layers to those encountered in a stratified geophysical environment. Some of the applications of this research range from the flight of aircraft to better means of energy delivery. In his leisure time, Professor Criminale enjoys many outdoor activities and music, particularly opera. The following is a selection of some of his recent publications.

W.O. Criminale, T.L. Jackson, and D.G. Lasseigne, Towards enhancement and suppression of disturbances in free shear flows, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 294, 283-300, 1995.

W.O. Criminale, T.L. Jackson, D.G. Lasseigne, and R.D. Joslin, Perturbation dynamics in viscous channel flows, submitted, 1995.

W.O. Criminale, D.G. Lasseigne, and T.L. Jackson, Vortex perturbation dynamics, submitted, 1995.

W.O. Criminale and P.G. Drazin, Initial-value problems for parallel flows of a viscous fluid, submitted, 1995.

Y. Bun and W.O. Criminale, Early periodic dynamics of an incompressible mixing layer, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 273, 31-82, 1994.

W.O. Criminale, T.L. Jackson, and D.G. Lasseigne, Evolution of disturbances in stagnation point flow, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 270, 331-347, 1994.

W.O. Criminale and F.I.P. Smith, Fundamental solutions in perturbed shear flows, Fluid Dynamics Research, 13, 167-195, 1994.

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