Chaotic dynamics lost one of its founders with the untimely death of Joseph Ford on the 26th of April 1995.  He was known not only for his innovative research but also for his personal flair and style.  His influence will be felt for many years through his deep and original insights in a field he helped pioneer three decades ago.

Joe Ford was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina, on December 18, 1927.  He received his BS degree from Georgia Tech in 1952 and his Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University in 1956, specializing in statistical mechanics.  After two years as a research physicist at Union Carbide Corp., in Niagara Falls, NY, he launched his academic career at the University of Miami in 1958.  He returned to Georgia Tech as associate professor in 1961 and rose through the ranks to become Regents’ Professor of Physics in 1978, a post he held until his death.

 Joe came to the field of chaotic dynamics after having been diverted fro traditional statistical mechanics by his curiosity in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam paradox.  As early as 1963 he discovered a new phenomenon, namely a transition from regular motion to dynamical chaos.  In those pioneering days Joe realized, more clearly than most, the profundity and importance of this phenomenon.  During the last decade of his life Joe explored the deeper consequences of deterministic chaos and again found himself in the role of pioneer.  Gödell and Turing supplanted Poincaré in his daily thinking, as he drew attention to “algorithmic complexity” as a means for defining the limits of human ability to deal with chaotic systems.

In the 1970s Joe conceived the idea of the “Nonlinear Science Abstracts.”  He personally collected, organized, typed, copied and distributed volumes of abstracts of dynamics papers, thereby forging a global interdisciplinary community.  Eventually Joe’s tireless efforts culminated in the foundation in 1980 of the first journal devoted to nonlinear dynamics, Physica D.

Joe’s personality was strongly reflected in his work.  He was uncompromising in issues of integrity and quality.  At the same time his generosity to his friends knew no bounds.  His marked anti-authoritarian streak undoubtedly contributed to the originality of his work.  He was a passionate man whose zest for living was surpassed only by his passion for his work. 

He had a remarkable ability to put his views and insights into lapidary form, and his speech owed much to the Southern Evangelists whom he heard when growing up in the rural South during the Depression. 

This commemorative lecture is named to honor Joe’s Memory as a scientist, teacher and colleague in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.

Links:

Inventory of the Joseph Ford Papers