College mourns loss of admired professor, researcher

The College of Engineering family is mourning the death of Walter Lempert, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Professor Lempert died on April 11.

Lempert became a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering faculty member in 1997, and had a joint appointment as a professor of chemistry. He was co-director of Ohio State's Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics Laboratory (NETL), a major research laboratory containing state-of-the-art computational and experimental facilities among the most advanced at any U.S. university.

The NETL thrust area is energy, fluid and thermal systems, studying effective fuel use, reduced emissions, improved performance and cost effectiveness – critically important industrial and societal goals. Lempert and his colleagues led research and education focused on analytical, computational and experimental techniques for achieving these goals.

Lempert’s primary research was on the application of atomic and molecular spectroscopy to problems of engineering interest, inherently interdisciplinary, combining such diverse subjects as nonlinear optics, fluid mechanics, plasma physics and energy transfer. He was a notable author of numerous publications, papers and presentations, which enhanced Ohio State's reputation in energy, fluid and thermal systems.

He received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Utah in 1981. Prior to his arrival at Ohio State in 1997, he served two years as an NRC post-doctoral Fellow at the National Bureau of Standards, five years at NASA, and nine years at Princeton University. In 2013, Lempert was elected as Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). He also was past chair of the American Institute of Aeronautic and Astronautics Aerodynamic Measurement Technology Technical Committee.

Lempert left an indelible mark at Ohio State and a legacy of dedicated excellence in education and research. His cheerful personality, friendliness and warmth among faculty, staff and students will be greatly missed.