Lam elected to engineering academy

Sau-Hai (Harvey) Lam, the Edwin Wilsey '04 Professor Emeritus of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, which is among the highest honors of the engineering profession.

The academy cited Lam for his "contributions to aerospace engineering in the areas of plasma flows, combustion, turbulence and adaptive controls."

Lam, who received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1958, joined the University's faculty two years later. He led an active career as a teacher, researcher and administrator for four decades, transferring to emeritus status in 1999.

Lam was among 76 new members elected to the academy this year, including three other Princeton alumni: Thomas Koch, who earned a bachelor's in physics in 1977 and is now a professor of computer and electrical engineering at Lehigh University; Stephen Jaffe, who received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 1968 and is a distinguished scientific adviser at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering; and Eric Schmidt, who received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1976 and is now chief executive officer of Google.

Lam's election brings to 20 the number of faculty members in the School of Engineering and Applied Science who are members of the National Academy of Engineering.