Merle Potter
- BS Mechanical Engineering 1958
- MS Engineering Mechanics 1961
Merle Potter '58 was awarded the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2008 James
Harry Potter (no relation) Gold Medal. Potter received the award "for making a renowned
impact on thermodynamics through forty-two years of outstanding teaching and through
published textbooks on thermal sciences and applied mathematics, and for research
on energy consumption in dwellings and industrial plants."
Potter earned a BS in 1958 and an MS in 1961 in Engineering Mechanics from Tech and
a master's and PhD from the U of M. He joined MSU in 1965 as an assistant professor
of mechanical engineering, becoming a full professor in 1974. He retired in 1998 and
continues to write.
He has written numerous research papers and has authored and coauthored twenty-six
textbooks and exam-review books.
Excerpted from Michigan Tech Magazine, Winter 2008-2009