Paul Andrews Libby

Paul Andrews Libby was born in Mineola, New York on September 4, 1921, and passed away after a brief illness at 100 years old on November 2, 2021 in La Jolla, California. At the time of his death, Libby was Professor Emeritus in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at UC San Diego, of which he was one of ten founding faculty members.

After more than 65 years in the field of aerodynamics, Libby was internationally renowned for his contributions to the understanding of turbulence and combustion. Libby collaborated in the fields of fluid mechanics and combustion with an impressive array of prominent scientists in the United States and abroad. In 1999, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for “contributions as a researcher, author, and educator who advanced knowledge of fluid dynamics, turbulence, and combustion through theoretical analyses.” During his career, Libby produced more than 200 journal publications and authored numerous books and monographs. His last paper was published in 2017, when he was 96, with his longtime collaborators Professors Michel Champion and K.N.C. Bray.

Libby received his bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1942. After working as an Apprentice Engineer at Chance Vought Aircraft in Stratford, Connecticut for two years, he entered the Navy, served until 1946 in the Structures Branch of the Bureau of Aeronautics and was honorably discharged as a Lieutenant Junior Grade. Following his service, he returned to the Polytechnic Institute, received his doctorate in Applied Mechanics in 1949, was appointed to the faculty, and rose in the ranks to tenured professor.

In the early 1950s, Professor Antonio Ferri, a leading specialist in supersonic aerodynamics and propulsion, joined the faculty of the Polytechnic Institute. For ten years, Libby collaborated with Ferri on the development of facilities for supersonic and hypersonic experimentation and on associated theoretical research. During this time, through his work with Ferri, Libby met and worked with Theodore Von Karman, then at the California Institute of Technology and considered to be the leading aerodynamicist of the 20th Century.

During these early years of his career, Libby met Petrina Marie Caruso, a Hunter College graduate and then a junior executive at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, and they married in New York City on September 25, 1955. The Libbys settled and spent many happy years in Freeport, Long Island as their family expanded with the birth of their son John in 1958, and their daughter Patricia in 1961. In 1964, the family left their lifelong New York roots and headed west to La Jolla, California after Libby was recruited by Professor S.S. Penner to join the newly established Department of Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering Sciences (AMES) at UC San Diego, the first engineering department on campus.

In 1972, Libby was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Applied Mathematics, which he pursued at Imperial College in London. The Libby family spent six months in London in 1973, followed by a six-week trip in Europe during which Libby lectured at several conferences and visited colleagues. Libby impressively drove the family singlehandedly in a bright red VW microbus from Amsterdam throughout Europe all the way to Naples, Italy. In the summer of 1977, the Libby family returned to Europe for several weeks during which Libby worked with colleagues and delivered lectures in London, Stockholm and Wiesbaden, West Germany. In 1982, Libby served as a Guest Fellow of the British Royal Society at Imperial College in London.

At UCSD, Libby taught graduate and undergraduate engineering classes and served on numerous academic committees. He also held various administrative positions, including Associate Dean of Graduate Affairs, Acting Dean of Graduate Affairs, Chair of the AMES Department, and Interim Dean of the Engineering Division. Libby was appointed to serve as the U.S. member of the Fluid Dynamics Panel of the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD), an agency of NATO, and on various other government panels.

Throughout his career, Libby enjoyed mentoring his graduate students and became lifelong friends with many of them. For many decades, the Libbys hosted numerous cocktail parties and other gatherings of family and friends in the La Jolla home that they built in 1966 with San Diego modernist architect Lloyd Ruocco. Outside of his academic pursuits, Libby was an avid tennis player, retiring from tennis only in his eighties, and an excellent cook. He was a lifelong enthusiast of gardening, classical music, modern architecture, history, and politics. He enjoyed actively following the educational and career activities of his children and six grandchildren. The family was fortunate to have been able to celebrate his 100th birthday with an early birthday party attended by his children and all of his grandchildren in July of this year.

Libby is survived by his son John Libby (Cindy), daughter Patricia Libby Thvedt, grandchildren Michael Libby, Matthew Libby, Madeline Libby, Andrew Thvedt, Eric Thvedt, and Paul Thvedt, and numerous nieces and nephews, including nephew Charles Libby and niece Valencia Libby. He is predeceased by his wife of 62 years, Petrina, and his son-in-law Joel Thvedt. The family is immensely grateful for the excellent and loving care he received during the past four years by the staff and caregivers of Windward Life Care.

The family has requested that remembrances be made in the form of contributions to the UC San Diego Foundation designated to “The Dr. Paul A. Libby and Petrina M.C. Libby Endowed Scholarship in Engineering at UC San Diego." You may donate online at https://giveto.ucsd.edu/giving/home/gift-referral/4e375052-6bd8-4ba3-8c70-b2ac42fde0d5/, or by calling UC San Diego Gift Processing at 858-534-4493, or mailing a check (made payable to the UC San Diego Foundation) with "Libby Endowed Scholarship (Fund No. 7230)" on the memo line to UC San Diego Gift Services, 9500 Gilman Dr. Mail Code 0940, La Jolla, CA 92093 - 0940. Gifts may also be made in Libby’s memory to his beloved KUSC Radio at KUSC.org.