era of McCarthyism. On the other hand, he experienced joy at the birth of his son Randy. In 1957 Ericksen received an offer from the Mechanical Engineering department of Johns Hopkins University. After a time Truesdell also moved to Johns Hopkins. A weekly seminar was organized in continuum mechanics where scholars could practice their oral presentations. Ericksen became interested in anisotropic liquids and began to develop a "properly invariant theory of a fluid with a single preferred direction". This topic attracted the interest of scientists like Bernard Coleman, James Ferguson, and Frank Matthews Leslie who were attempting to exploit liquid crystals. When Leslie joined him at Johns Hopkins they formed a small group with post-doctoral associates to study liquid crystals. In 1982 Ericksen moved to University of Minnesota where he took a joint appointment in the School of Mathematics and the Aerospace and Mechanics Department. Starting with a lecture to a general audience he was able to start a graduate course in liquid crystals. Then with Roger Fosdick a seminar or course in continuum mechanics was developed. Further, Ericksen taught a course in Thermodynamics of Solids, which he developed into a textbook published in 1998. He was also instrumental in the year- long program in continuum physics and partial differential equations held by the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications where Millard Beatty was a visitor. During his academic career he served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Rational Mechanics and Analysis, Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis, Journal of Elasticity, and the International Journal of Solids and Structures. In 1968 he was awarded the Bingham Medal. In 1979 he was awarded the Timoshenko Medal. In 2010 the International Society for the Interaction of Mechanics and Mathematics awarded to him the first ISIMM Prize for his exceptional contributions towards building a link between mathematics and mechanics. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in July 1988. Ericksen retired at age 65 and moved with Marion to Florence, Oregon. He died in June 2021 at the age of 96. References Further reading D. E. Carlson, "In recognition of the sixtieth birthday of J.L. Ericksen", Journal of Elasticity 14 (1984) 337–341. . External links J. L. Ericksen (1979) Timoshenko Acceptance Speech at iMechanica.org site for mechanicians. 1924 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians Mathematical physicists Rheologists Indiana University Bloomington alumni Johns Hopkins University faculty Liquid crystals Fluid dynamicists Scientists