Ray William Clough

{{Short description|American engineer and academic (1920–2016)}} {{Infobox engineer | honorific_prefix = Dr. | name = Ray W. Clough | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | nationality =  | citizenship =  | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date text|July 23, 1920}} | birth_place = Seattle, Washington | death_date = {{death date and age|2016|10|8|1920|7|23}} | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | education = University of Washington, B.S. (1942), Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sc.D.(1949) | spouse = | parents = | children = | discipline = structural engineering, earthquake engineering | institutions = University of California, Berkeley | practice_name = | employer = | significant_projects = | significant_design = | significant_advance = | significant_awards = National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences, Royal Norwegian Scientists Society, Chinese Academy of Engineering, National Medal of Science, Benjamin Franklin Medal | signature = | signature alt = | website = }}

'''Ray William Clough''', (July 23, 1920 – October 8, 2016), was Byron L. and Elvira E. Nishkian Professor of structural engineering in the department of civil engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and one of the founders of the finite element method (FEM). His 1956 article was one of the first applications of this computational method.<ref name=Clough1956 /> He coined the term "finite elements" in an article in 1960.<ref name=Clough1960 /> He was born in Seattle<ref name=whoswho /> and died on October 8, 2016, aged 96.<ref name=ENR_obit />

==Contributions== Clough made contributions in the field of earthquake engineering, in particular with the development and application of a mathematical method, finite element analysis, which has applications in numerical modeling of the physical world.<ref name=Clough_OH />{{rp|p=197–201}} Dr. Clough extended the method to enable dynamic analysis of complex structures and co-authored, with Joseph Penzien, a text on structural dynamics.<ref name=Clough_Penzien1975 /> As of 2025, the second edition (revised) of this text is still in print and widely used.{{According to whom|date=August 2025}}

A series of papers that appeared in the 1960s and 1970s presented new and accurate methods utilizing the finite element concept for earthquake analysis of earth dams and concrete dams.<ref name=Clough1977_Dams /> During the 1970s and 1980s he directed his research toward experiments on concrete, steel, and masonry buildings and liquid-storage tanks using the UC Berkeley EERC shaking table.<ref name=masonry_8WCEE />

Clough and Joe Penzien with support from Jack Bouwkamp developed the Earthquake Engineering Research Center (EERC) at UC Berkeley, a hub for analytical engineering research, information resources, and public service programs.<ref name=Clough_OH />{{rp|p=207–210}} The proposal was submitted in 1967 and EERC began operations in 1968.<ref name=EERC_proposal />

==Awards and honors==

* The Prince Philip Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering in London * National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering (1968), * the Royal Norwegian Scientists Society * the Chinese Academy of Engineering. * He was awarded the A. Cemal Eringen Medal (1992), * George W. Housner Medal by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (1996).<ref name="Housner_Medal" /> * In 1994, Vice President Al Gore presented Clough with a National Medal of Science. The citation reads ''For his outstanding contributions in the fields of finite element analysis, structural dynamics, and earthquake engineering which had extraordinary influence in the development of modern engineering.''<ref name="Medal_of_Science" /><ref name="MoS_citation" /> * In 2006 he was presented the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Civil Engineering from The Franklin Institute.

==References== {{Reflist| refs= <ref name=Clough_OH>{{cite book |title=Edward L. Wilson with an Appendix on Ray W. Clough, Connections: The EERI Oral History Series |date=2016 |publisher=Earthquake Engineering Research Institute |location=Oakland, CA |url=https://www.eeri.org/connections-eeri-oral-history-series}}</ref>

<ref name=Clough1956>{{cite journal |last1=Turner |first1=M. J. |last2=Clough |first2=R. W. |last3=Martin |first3=H. C. |last4=Topp |first4=L. J. |date=1956 |title=Stiffness and Deflection Analysis of Complex Structures |url=http://www.ce.memphis.edu/7117/notes/presentations/papers/Turner%20et%20al%20(1956)%20Stiffness%20and%20deflection%20analysis%20of%20comlex%20strucutres.pdf |journal=Journal of the Aeronautical Sciences |volume=23 |issue=9 |pages=805–823 |doi= 10.2514/8.3664|access-date=31 July 2025}}</ref>

<ref name=Clough1960>Proceedings, 2nd Conference on Electronic Computation, ASCE Structural Division, Pittsburgh, PA, pp 345–378, 1960</ref>

<ref name=whoswho>{{cite book |author=Europa Publications |title=The International Who's Who 2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jn_GG55gKm8C&pg=PA335|year=2003|publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-1-85743-217-6|page=335}}</ref>

<ref name=ENR_obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.enr.com/articles/40641-aecoms-nash-is-atkins-unit-ceo-noted-quake-engineer-ray-clough-dies|title=AECOM Exec Is Atkins Unit CEO; Quake Expert Ray Clough Dies}}</ref>

<ref name=Housner_Medal>{{cite web|url=https://www.eeri.org/about-eeri/honors-awards/eeri-award-recipients#housner|title=George W. Housner Medal |publisher=Earthquake Engineering Research Institute}}</ref>

<ref name=Medal_of_Science>{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.cfm?recip_id=78|title=The President's National Medal of Science: Overview |publisher=National Science Foundation}}</ref>

<ref name=Clough1977_Dams>{{cite journal |last1=Clough |first1=R. W. |last2=Chopra |first2=A. K. |date=1966 |title=Earthquake stress analysis in earth dams |journal=Journal of the Engineering Mechanics Division |volume=92 |issue=2 |publisher=American Society of Civil Engineers |pages=197–211 |doi=10.1061/JMCEA3.0000735}}</ref>

<ref name=masonry_8WCEE>{{cite journal |last1=Manos |first1=G. C. |last2=Clough |first2=R. W. |last3=Mayes |first3=R. L. |date=1984 |title=Three Component Shaking Table Study of the Dynamic Response of a Single Story Masonry House |journal=Proceedings, 8th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering |volume=VI |pages=855–862 |url=https://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/article/8_vol6_855.pdf}}</ref>

<ref name=EERC_proposal>{{cite book |last1=Penzien |first1= Joseph |last3=Clough |first3=Ray W. |last2=Bouwkamp |first2=Jack G. |last4=Dixon |first4=Rea |title=Feasibility Study Large-Scale Earthquake Simulator Facility, College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, September 1967|year=1967}}</ref>

<ref name=MoS_citation>{{cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/honorary-awards/national-medal-science/recipients?query=Ray%20Clough&sort=relevance_DESC |title= President's National Medal of Science: Citation for Ray W. Clough |publisher=National Science Foundation}}</ref>

<ref name=Clough_Penzien1975>{{cite book|last1=Clough |first1=Ray W. |last2=Penzien |first2=Joseph |title=Dynamics of Structures |year=1975 |publisher=McGraw-Hill}}</ref> }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clough, Ray W.}} Category:1920 births Category:2016 deaths Category:American structural engineers Category:National Medal of Science laureates Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Category:Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates