Vedat Salih Arpaci

31st, after a fall. He was one day short of his 90th birthday.

Born on September 1st, 1928, in a small village on the outskirts of Istanbul,

he was the son of village grocer Remzi Salih Arpaci and homemaker Aliye Fatma

Arpaci (nee Saydamel). One defining event of Vedat's life was his father's

constant poor health; he passed away when Vedat was just fifteen years old.

Thanks in great part to his mother's love and encouragement, Vedat (on his

third try, and with a bit of luck) was admitted to the Technical University in

Istanbul, where he studied Mechanical Engineering. Vowing never to leave his

life's path to fortune again, Vedat poured himself into his work and graduated

first in his class with a Masters of Science in 1952.

After requisite military service and some time in industry, Vedat decided to

further his studies, and applied to various graduate programs in the US. He

was admitted to and began attending MIT. In his first weeks of study, he

solved a problem that had stumped his advisors for the many months. Under the

supervision of Professor Warren Rohsenow, Vedat earned a doctorate for his

dissertation work entitled "Theory of Transient Heat Transfer in Laminar Flow"

in just two years time.

After returning to Turkey to teach, various frustrations led Vedat to seek

career opportunities back in the US. He soon become a professor at the

University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, joining the faculty in 1959. Vedat was

quickly promoted, first to associate professor with tenure in 1961, and then

to full professor in 1964. He worked at the U of M until his retirement in

May, 2002, a career spanning more than four decades.

Vedat was well-known for his research in thermal-fluid sciences, and his work

had a tremendous impact in both research and educational areas of the

field. His roughly 140 published works extend well beyond thermal-fluid

sciences and penetrate deeply into underlying physics and mathematics. He also

wrote several popular and classic textbooks, including Conduction Heat

Transfer and Convection Heat Transfer (with Poul Larsen), which revolutionized

the way heat transfer is taught. In recognition of his work, Vedat received

the Heat Transfer Memorial Award, the Max Jacob Memorial Award, and Turkey's

National Medal of Science (TUBITAK). He was also named a fellow of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Vedat dearly loved teaching and mentoring of students. In his time at U of M,

Vedat advised 45 Ph.D. students who went on to occupy prominent positions in

industry and academics; one even became the president of MIT. His passion for

classroom teaching was evident throughout his career; Vedat often spoke fondly

of his time in front of students with chalk in hand. He was recognized for his

teaching with numerous departmental and campus-wide teaching awards.

Of course, family was very important to Vedat. Some time after moving to Ann

Arbor, Vedat spied a beautiful woman walking in the distance at a concert at

Hill Auditorium. He subsequently was introduced to this woman, Dr. Niara

Arabaci (a psychiatrist), who became the one and only love of his life. They

married in 1966, and had a daughter (Lale) and son (Remzi). While daughter

and son moved away, Niara and Vedat remained in Ann Arbor for the rest of

their lives, sharing a passion for classic movies and evenings on the town.

Vedat is survived by his daughter Lale (a television producer in Hollywood), his son Remzi (a professor of Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) and daughter-in-law Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau, and two granddaughters, Anna and Madeline, all of whom he loved dearly. He is also survived by his younger sister (Vedia Dokmeci) and her son (Mehmet). Vedat was pre-deceased by his wife Niara who passed away in 2009.

He will be greatly missed.

The family will receive guests from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 16, at Muehlig Funeral Chapel, 403 S. Fourth Avenue, Ann Arbor 48104

Please share a memory of Dr. Arpaci with his family at: www.muehligannarbor.com