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A toast for John Hutchinson

mrb3h's picture

Presented at the reception in honor of Professor John W. Hutchinson.  I should explain the context of my remarks. In 1995, Bob McMeeking, having exhausted himself in the endeavor of forming a useful intellect from so little to work with, appealed to a higher power and sent me to Cambridge. The week of my arrival, Prof. Hutchinson surveyed the challenge before him, and responded with the temperate and sage wisdom we have all come to admire: he packed his bags and moved to Denmark....For a whole year.... This action inspired many in mechanics. McMeeking left the country the same year (apparently to recuperate from our time together). Evans apparently entered into negotiations withe the rest of the Ivy League. And John Bassani, unwittingly left holding the bag while on sabbatical at Harvard, enforced a strict policy of my only talking to him on the way to weekly basketball games.

In spite of this auspicious beginning, Prof. Hutchinson and I got off to a rocky start. Boiling over with the desire to impress, and show my dedication to learning the trade, I penned long, witty and insightful emails...containing profound and deep questions regarding the universality of the Principle of Virtual Work. When John's first response from overseas lit up my inbox, I could hardly breath and my heart raced: I would finally drink from the intellect that had forged (directly or indirectly) so many brilliant minds in mechanics. Please allow me to read Prof. Hutchinson's reply in its entirety, as I believe it provides significant insight into this wonderful mentor:

"Matt: you sure like to talk. The answer to your question is no. OVER, John"

As so, my journey had begun. I came to realize and appreciate John's talent for succinctness and brevity. His ability to identify the most insightful questions amidst a sea of trivialities. His admirable ability to prove useful and entirely unambiguous answers. His knack for putting an unequivocal note of finality on important problems. These talents are on display, not only in potentially crushing e-mails (indadvertently so, of course), but also in John's papers. Many of you in this room know John well - much better than me - and have more personal insight into this wonderful man. But for those of you who have not had that opportunity, I strongly encourage you to sit down - with a whisky and cigar perhaps - and simply and carefully read John's papers. Not just the famous ones, or the ones in your area, but all of them. I promise, without doubt, that you will frequently discover some gem that lights up a dark corner of your mechanics universe. And you'd better get started, as the hits keep coming.

I could naturally go on for hours, with the usual accolades and eye-popping statistics regarding John's impact. But for those of with children of your own, who are pondering how to raise the next John Hutchinson, it is important to remember this man was indeed shaped by influential colleagues.

Such as myself. It may shock many of you to learn that Prof. Hutchinson was skeptical that the PC revolution would succeed, and continued to draw figures for public consumption via hand and French curves....for decades after the emergence of computerized plots. I was delighted to unlock for John the mysteries of Kaleidagraph, the then thrill at seeing his talents released anew into the mechanics community. And, it must undoubtedly come as a shock to you, that this man, who has never ever uttered a negative word about a fellow researcher, was very nearly assassinated by the microscopy community in the 90's. His persistent and politically volatile remark "seen one micrograph, seen them all", was wreaking havoc with the insecurities of MSE colleagues who clung to the notion that SEM images could provide mechanistic insight.

Finally, as a word of caution to those younger members of our community, it should be noted that there is a tendency to discuss "the next John Hutchinson", particularly when interviewing faculty candidates. (I think it not coincidental that Prof. Suo is, at this very moment, distributing advertisements for an assistant professor at Harvard.) BEWARE!! BE VERY WARY!! This is a fool's errand, at the most basic level and with the largest of proportions. There will never, ever, never, be another John Hutchinson. I am pleased to know the one and only.

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