{{Short description|American mechanical engineer (1927–2018)}} {{Infobox scientist | name = George N. Hatsopoulos | image = GeorgeHatsopoulos-2011-PittconAward.jpg | caption = Hatsopoulos in 2011 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|1|7}} | birth_place = [[Athens]], Greece | death_date = {{death date and age|2018|9|20|1927|1|7}} | death_place = [[Lincoln, Massachusetts]], U.S. | nationality = | field = [[Mechanical engineering]] | work_institution = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] |awards = {{plainlist | * [[John Fritz Medal]] (1996) * [[National Academy of Engineering|US National Academy of Engineering]] (1978) }} | doctoral_advisor = }} '''George Nicholas Hatsopoulos''' (January 7, 1927 – September 20, 2018) was a [[Greek American]] mechanical engineer noted for his work in [[thermodynamics]] and for having co-founded [[Thermo Electron]].
==Early life== Hatsopoulos was born in Athens, Greece in 1927<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zecLAQAAMAAJ&q=%22HATSOPOULOS,+GEORGE+NICHOLAS,+*%22+1927 | title=Who's who in Finance and Industry| year=1999| isbn=978-0-8379-0334-7| last1=Who| first1=Marquis Who's| publisher=Marquis Who's Who.}}</ref> and is related to{{how|date=June 2016}} the former rector of the [[Athens Polytechnic School]], [[Nicolas Kitsikis]]. He attended Athens Polytechnic before entering MIT, where he received his Bachelor and Master of Science (1950), Mechanical Engineer (1954), and Doctorate of Science (1956).<ref name=":0">MIT. (1956) Appointments To Administrative Positions And Four Faculty Changes Announced. ''The Tech.'' '''LXXVI''' No. 15, 3 http://tech.mit.edu/V76/PDF/N15.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511145702/http://tech.mit.edu/V76/PDF/N15.pdf |date=2012-05-11 }}</ref>
==Hatsopoulos-Keenan reformulation of thermodynamics==
In 1965, he and [[Joseph Henry Keenan|Joseph Keenan]] published their textbook ''Principles of General Thermodynamics'', which restates the [[second law of thermodynamics]] in terms of the existence of stable equilibrium states.<ref>{{cite book | last = Hatsopoulos | first = George, N. | author2 = Keenan, Joseph, H. | title = Principles of General Thermodynamics | url = https://archive.org/details/principlesofgene00hats | url-access = registration | publisher = John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | year = 1965 | id = CCN 65-12709}}</ref> Their formulation of the second law of thermodynamics states that:
<div style="font-size:115%"> {{cquote|When an isolated system performs a process after the removal of a series of internal constraints, it will reach a unique state of stable equilibrium: this state of equilibrium is independent of the order in which the constraints are removed.}}</div>
The Hatsopoulos-Keenan statement of the Second Law [[Entailment|entails]] the Clausius, Kelvin-Planck, and Carathéodory statements of the Second Law,<ref>{{cite book | last = Gyftopoulos | first = Elias, P. |author2=Beretta, Gian Paolo | title = Thermodynamics. Foundations and Applications | publisher = Dover Pu., Inc. | year = 2005 | isbn = 0-486-43932-1}}</ref> and has provided a basis to extend the traditional definition of [[entropy]] to the non-equilibrium domain. Hatsopoulus and Keenan maintained that it is unlikely to identify a satisfactory definition of heat without a prior statement of the second law.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zanchini |first1=E. |last2=Beretta |first2=G. P. |title=Recent Progress in the Definition of Thermodynamic Entropy |journal=Entropy |volume=16 |pages=1547–1570 |year=2014 |issue=3 |doi=10.3390/e16031547 |arxiv=1403.5772 |bibcode=2014Entrp..16.1547Z |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Beretta |first=G. P. |title=The fourth law of thermodynamics: steepest entropy ascent |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A |volume=378 |article-number=20190168 |year=2020 |issue=2170 |doi=10.1098/rsta.2019.0168 |pmid=32223406 |arxiv=1908.05768 |bibcode=2020RSPTA.37890168B }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Lecture 2: Second Law and Entropy; Adiabatic Availability; Maximum Entropy Principle |website=MIT OpenCourseWare |series=2.43 Advanced Thermodynamics |publisher=MIT |date=Spring 2024 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKi3EuS5foY }}</ref>
Hatsopoulos helped pioneer academic work in [[quantum thermodynamics]]. In the Spring term of 1971 at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]], he and [[Elias Gyftopoulos]] offered what is regarded as the first university course titled "Quantum Thermodynamics". It was a graduate-level class designated 2.47J.<ref>MIT Bulletin 1970-71.</ref> In 1976, he also contributed to the formulation of a unified theory of mechanics and thermodynamics, arguably a precursor of the emerging interconnected fields of [[nonequilibrium thermodynamics]] and [[quantum thermodynamics]] (see e.g. Refs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hatsopoulos |first1=G. N. |last2=Gyftopoulos |first2=E. P. |title=A unified quantum theory of mechanics and thermodynamics. Part IIa. Available energy |journal=Foundations of Physics |volume=6 |pages=127–141 |year=1976 |issue=2 |doi=10.1007/bf00708955 |bibcode=1976FoPh....6..127H }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Maddox |first=John |title=Uniting Mechanics and Statistics |journal=Nature |volume=316 |page=11 |year=1985 |issue=6023 |doi=10.1038/316011a0 |bibcode=1985Natur.316...11M |url=https://gianpaolo-beretta.unibs.it/Nature040785.pdf |access-date=2025-11-04 }}</ref><ref>https://www.quantumthermodynamics.org. Retrieved 2010-05-29 </ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hatsopoulos |first1=G. N. |last2=Beretta |first2=G. P. |title=AIP Conference Proceedings |chapter=Where is the entropy challenge? |volume=1033 |pages=34–54 |year=2008 |doi=10.1063/1.2979057 |chapter-url=https://gianpaolo-beretta.unibs.it/Beretta-papers-online/ic46-HatsopoulosBeretta-AIPCP-1033-34-2008.pdf }}</ref>)
==Academic and industry leader== While at MIT, Hatsopoulos was head of the engineering division of [[Matrad Corporation]] of New York.<ref name=":0" /> Matrad Corporation and MIT also provided financial support for his doctoral thesis ''The Thermo-Electron Engine''.<ref>Hatsopoulos, George Nicholas. (1956). ''The Thermo-Electron Engine.'' Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/12098</ref> Matrad Corporation was owned by the family of [[Peter M. Nomikos]], a Harvard Business School graduate. In 1956, Nomikos and Hatsopoulos co-founded the [[Thermo Electron]] Corporation. Several years later, George asked his brother (John Hatsopoulos) to join the company as financial controller.<ref>It Don't Mean a Thing If You Ain't Got that Green: HBS and the Birth of Venture Capital. HBS Bulletin Online, December 1996. http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/1996/december/start.html</ref> Under [[George Hatsopoulos]], John Hatsopoulos, and Arvin Smith.<ref name=CHFBiographical>{{cite web|title=George and John Hatsopoulos, and Arvin Smith|url=http://www.chemheritage.org/visit/events/awards/affiliate-partnership-awards/pittcon-hof-hatsopouloses-smith.aspx|publisher=[[Chemical Heritage Foundation]]|access-date=26 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712210812/http://www.chemheritage.org/visit/events/awards/affiliate-partnership-awards/pittcon-hof-hatsopouloses-smith.aspx|archive-date=July 12, 2016}}</ref> [[Thermo Electron]] became a major provider of analytical instruments and services for a variety of domains. In 1965, George Hatsopoulos was president of the Thermo Electron Engineering Corporation and Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at [[M.I.T.]]
==Recognition== In 1961, Hatsopoulos received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}}</ref> Hatsopoulos was elected to the US [[National Academy of Engineering]] in 1978.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dr. George N. Hatsopoulos |url=https://www.nae.edu/29243/Dr-George-N-Hatsopoulos |website=National Academy of Engineering |access-date=11 April 2026 }}</ref> In 1996, Hatsopoulos won the [[John Fritz Medal]], which is the highest American award in the [[engineering]] profession and presented each year for scientific or industrial achievement in any field of pure or applied science. In 1997, he was awarded the 3rd Annual [[Heinz Award]] in Technology, the Economy and Employment.<ref>[http://www.heinzawards.net/recipients/george-hatsopoulos The Heinz Awards, George Hatsopoulos profile]</ref>
In 2011, along with Arvin Smith and John Hatsopoulos, he was awarded the 2011 [[Pittcon Heritage Award]] from the [[Chemical Heritage Foundation]].<ref name="Pittcon">{{cite web|title=Pittcon Heritage Award|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/pittcon-heritage-award|website=Science History Institute|date=31 May 2016|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref>
Hatsopoulos is also a recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}
He died on September 20, 2018, at the age of 91.<ref>[http://concordfuneral.tributes.com/obituary/show/George-Nicholas-Hatsopoulos-106441457 George Hatsopoulos Obituary]</ref> His net worth was reported as US$481 million in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ellines.com/en/good-news/33197-50-wealthiest-greek-americans/|title = National Herald - 50 wealthiest Greek-Americans for 2017}}</ref> ==See also== *[[History of thermodynamics]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110716031053/http://www3.babson.edu/ESHIP/outreach-events/George-N-Hatsopoulos.cfm George Hatsopoulos] - Biography *[https://web.archive.org/web/20081129090441/http://www.nae.edu/nae/naepub.nsf/Members+By+UNID/1151A476933D100A85256FFC004A42F6?opendocument George Hatsopoulos] - National Academy of Engineering, chairman and CEO
{{Henry Laurence Gantt Medal}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatsopoulos, George N.}} [[Category:1927 births]] [[Category:2018 deaths]] [[Category:American people of Greek descent]] [[Category:Henry Laurence Gantt Medal recipients]] [[Category:Kitsikis family]] [[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering]] [[Category:MIT School of Engineering faculty]] [[Category:American mechanical engineers]] [[Category:American businesspeople in manufacturing]] [[Category:People from Athens]] [[Category:Thermodynamicists]]