Director of the Institute · 1976–2022
Oleksandr M. Guz
Academician of the NAS of Ukraine · scientist in mechanics · research leader
Oleksandr M. Guz founded a scientific school in linearized mechanics of deformable solids and related fields. For 46 years he led the Institute of Mechanics, combining institutional leadership with an intensive research programme of his own.
Biographical milestones
Scientific and professional career
O.M. Guz’s connection with the Institute began with research he undertook as a student in 1959. He later worked here as a researcher, headed the department he established, and from 1976 led the Institute itself.
- 1939
Ichnia, Chernihiv region
Born on 29 January in Ichnia, Chernihiv region.
- 1956–1961
Kyiv State University
Studied at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of T.H. Shevchenko Kyiv State University and graduated with honours.
- 1959–1960
Beginning of research at the Institute
In 1959, while still a fourth-year student, he was brought into research work by Academician H.M. Savin; from 1960 he worked as a staff member of the Institute of Mechanics.
- 1962
Candidate of Sciences dissertation
Defended the dissertation “Approximate Solutions of Stress-Concentration Problems around Holes in Isotropic and Orthotropic Shells”.
- 1965
Doctor of Sciences dissertation
Defended the dissertation “Thin Elastic Shells Weakened by Holes”. He was 26 years old at the time of the defence.
- 1967
Department of Dynamics and Stability
Established the Department of Dynamics and Stability of Continua at the Institute and headed it until 2023.
- 1969
Professor
Received the academic title of Professor.
- 1973
Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR
Elected a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
- 1976
Director of the Institute
At the age of 37, he became Director of the Institute of Mechanics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
- 1978
Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR
Elected a full member (Academician) of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.
- 1983–1988
Academician-Secretary of the Division of Mechanics
Served as Academician-Secretary of the newly established Division of Mechanics within the Academy.
- 2022
Adviser to the Directorate
After completing his tenure as Director of the Institute, he became Adviser to the Directorate in 2022.
Institute of Mechanics
46 years leading the Institute
In 1976, at the age of 37, O.M. Guz was appointed Director of the Institute of Mechanics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. At that time, it was the largest research institute in mechanics in the USSR: in 1980 its staff numbered more than 1,500, including 60 Doctors and 150 Candidates of Sciences.
The new Director made changes to the organisation of research and to how its results were presented. Fundamental research results began to be systematically consolidated in multivolume monograph series, while applied projects became more comprehensive and were carried out jointly with the organisations that commissioned the work. A prominent example was the five-volume series Methods for Calculating Shells (1980–1982), published under the general editorship of O.M. Guz and soon translated into English in the United States as supporting technical texts for NASA.
A major long-term area of cooperation was work with the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute, including the development and advancement of an ultrasonic nondestructive method for studying the stress-strain state of materials and structural elements. The Institute also cooperated with the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, while the general approach developed by O.M. Guz was applied to problems in rock mechanics.
Scientific legacy
Scientific contribution
Linearized mechanics of deformable solids occupies a central place in O.M. Guz’s scientific work. Together with Maurice Biot, O.M. Guz is regarded as one of the founders of this field.
Results in this field and related areas — from three-dimensional stability theory and elastic-wave propagation in bodies with initial stresses to fracture mechanics, contact problems and dynamics in a compressible viscous fluid — are presented in 40 monographs published since 1971 in Ukraine and abroad.
Linearized mechanics of deformable solids
Development of a general framework for mechanics problems in a linearized formulation for bodies with initial deformations and stresses.
Three-dimensional stability theory
Study of the stability of deformable bodies in three-dimensional formulations and substantiation of applied shell and plate theories.
Elastic waves in bodies with initial stresses
Research into the influence of the initial stress state on the velocities and characteristics of elastic-wave propagation.
Mechanics of composite materials
Studies of stability, wave processes and mechanical behaviour of fibre-reinforced and layered composites.
Non-classical problems of fracture mechanics
Development of approaches to fracture in materials with initial stresses and to fracture under compression along cracks.
Contact problems and dynamics in fluids
Studies of contact problems for bodies with initial stresses and of the dynamics of rigid bodies in a compressible viscous fluid.
Principal new mechanical effects
In his single-authored studies and in work carried out jointly with his students, O.M. Guz theoretically identified a number of new mechanical effects. Among the principal ones are:
- a non-monotonic increase in stress concentration as holes approach one another in multiply connected bodies
- conditional resonances in elastic-wave diffraction and Wood-type resonances in elastic bodies with periodic structures
- stability characteristics of three-dimensional deformable bodies and conditions governing the applicability of applied shell and plate theories
- a substantial influence of initial stresses on elastic-wave propagation and fracture parameters
- characteristic patterns of loss of stability in fibre-reinforced and layered composites
- resonance phenomena in contact problems for bodies with initial stresses
- coincidence of the onset of fracture under compression along cracks with the appearance of surface instability in the material
- specific features of the radiation force acting on rigid bodies in a compressible viscous fluid
The source article gives a more extensive list classified into twelve fields of mechanics. Read the article →
Scientific continuity
The scientific school of O.M. Guz
O.M. Guz established one of the largest scientific schools in mechanics in Ukraine. Its scale is reflected in the number of researchers who completed advanced degrees under his supervision.
40Doctors of Sciences
100+Candidates of Sciences
Among his students are Academicians of the NAS of Ukraine Viacheslav Bogdanov,Veniamin Kubenko and Volodymyr Nazarenko; Academician of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences G.G. Kuliyev; Corresponding Members of the NAS of Ukraine Yu.M. Nemish, I.S. Chernyshenko and M.O. Shulha; and Corresponding Member of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences S.D. Akbarov.
Recognition
International recognition and awards
O.M. Guz’s achievements in research, scientific leadership and the training of researchers have been recognised by numerous Ukrainian and international awards.
He was elected to Academia Europaea in 1992 and to the European Academy of Sciences in 2002; in 1995 he was elected a member of the General Assembly of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM). In 2008, the European Academy of Sciences awarded him the Blaise Pascal Medal.
Other distinctions and academic memberships
- M.V. Ostrogradsky Prize of the NAS of Ukraine (2024)
- Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine (2016)
- O.K. Antonov Prize of the NAS of Ukraine (2017)
- V.M. Hlushkov Prize of the NAS of Ukraine (2016)
- H.S. Pysarenko Prize of the NAS of Ukraine (2014)
- S.P. Timoshenko Prize of the NAS of Ukraine (2000)
- M.K. Yangel Prize of the NAS of Ukraine (1983)
- O.M. Dynnyk Prize of the NAS of Ukraine (1979)
- member of Academia Europaea since 1992
- member of the European Academy of Sciences since 2002
- member of the General Assembly of IUTAM since 1995
Archival photographs
Photographic chronicle
Scientific publications
Selected works and multivolume series
O.M. Guz is the author of 76 monographs, 22 of them single-authored, and about 1,000 scientific publications. The anniversary article singles out three later monographs; the fundamental multivolume series are listed separately.
Selected later monographs
- Guz A.N. Восемь неклассических проблем механики разрушения [Eight Non-Classical Problems of Fracture Mechanics]. Kyiv: Akademperiodyka, 2020. 398, [1] p. ISBN 978-966-360-405-3. [in Russian]
- Guz A.N., Bogdanov V.L., Nazarenko V.M. Fracture of Materials Under Compression Along Cracks. Advanced Structured Materials. Vol. 138. Cham: Springer, 2020. XVI, 490 p. DOI →
- Guz A.N. Eight Non-Classical Problems of Fracture Mechanics. Advanced Structured Materials. Vol. 159. Cham: Springer, 2022. XXXIV, 366 p. DOI →
- Guz A.N. Elastic Waves in Bodies with Initial (Residual) Stresses. Transl. J.J. Rushchitsky. Kyiv: Akademperiodyka, 2024. 668 p. ISBN 978-966-360-519-7. DOI →
Multivolume series edited by O.M. Guz
As editor, O.M. Guz organised the publication of these series and personally prepared a number of their volumes.
View the list
- Methods for Calculating Shells — 5 volumes, 1980–1982
- Mechanics of Composite Materials and Structural Elements — 3 volumes, 1982–1983
- Three-Dimensional Problems of the Theory of Elasticity and Plasticity — 6 volumes, 1984–1986
- Mechanics of Coupled Fields in Structural Elements — 5 volumes, 1987–1989
- Non-Classical Problems of Fracture Mechanics — 4 volumes, 1990–1994
- Mechanics of Composites — 12 volumes, 1993–2003
- Advances of Mechanics — 6 volumes, 2005–2011
- Modern Problems of Mechanics — 3 volumes, 2016–2018
Sources
Sources and external resources
Wikipedia (Ukrainian) →National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine →Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine →Scopus →Scientific profile on the Institute website →
Principal source for this page
Facts and milestones of the scientific path of the outstanding scientist-mechanician. To the 85th anniversary of Academician of NAS of Ukraine O.M. Guz.
Bogdanov V.L., Nazarenko V.M., Rushchitsky J.J.
Visn. Nac. Akad. Nauk Ukr. 2024. No. 1. P. 94–102.
DOI: 10.15407/visn2024.01.094 →The main text and archival photographs on this page are based on this publication. Current award information was cross-checked against the official NAS of Ukraine profile.