Robert Hess

Faculty History Project ABOUTSCHOOLS & COLLEGESSEARCH FACULTYRESOURCES Robert L. Hess Regents' Proceedings 261 Robert L. Hess, professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics, retired from active faculty status on May 31, 1991. Professor Hess received two B.S.E. degrees (mathematics and engineering mechanics) in 1945, an M.S.E. degree in 1948, and a Ph.D. degree in 1950, all from the University of Michigan. He served as an instructor in engineering mechanics from 1946-49, and was employed by Bell Laboratories from 1949-52. He returned to the University of Michigan in 1952 as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1955 and professor in 1958. In 1952, Professor Hess joined the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project, dealing with the atomic structure of glass. In 1958, he joined the new management team created to direct the Willow Run Laboratories, with the specific assignment as technical director of Project Michigan, a project to advance the Army's capabilities in combat surveillance and target acquisition. He also became the head of the Applied Research Group. While at Willow Run Laboratories, Professor Hess managed multiple research teams, studying such topics as information processing, semi-conductor development, infrared scanning, and synthetic antenna radar. His success led to his being named director of Project Michigan. In 1964, as the personal representative of the Army's chief of staff for intelligence, Professor Hess led teams of scientists through a comprehensive field review of the Army's combat surveillance capabilities in Europe and Korea. For this service, he was awarded the Army's Outstanding Civilian Service Medal in 1966. That year, he returned to teaching and was named chair of the executive committee of the Highway Safety Research Institute (HSRI), which was established with a ten-million-dollar gift from the automobile industry. He was named director of HSRI in 1967 and remained in that capacity through 1983. Professor Hess has served in roles that brought unparalleled funding and prestige to the department, the college, and the University. His leadership in the development of the Highway Safety Research Institute (later renamed University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute) began a broad program of research spanning law, medicine, psychology, and engineering. While director, Professor Hess conducted two major studies, which involved a review of the research findings in the scientific, engineering, and medical communities about blunt trauma to the human head and blunt trauma to the thorax. Professor Hess returned to teaching in 1984 and served as the mechanical engineering undergraduate program advisor. In this capacity he wrote degree-audit software, which allows tracking of the progress of each student. The Regents now salute this distinguished engineering educator, researcher, and administrator by naming Robert L. Hess Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics.