Obituary: Joseph Pask, expert in ceramics engineering

Joseph Adam Pask, Berkeley professor emeritus and an international leader in modern ceramic science and engineering, died in June at age 90.

Pask joined the Berkeley faculty in 1948, when the field of ceramics was bursting out of the confines of pottery and lavatory materials and onto the stage of modern engineering. Pask and Richard Fulrath, another professor emeritus who died in 1977, formed the first ceramic engineering programs on campus.

"There was no ceramic engineering at UC Berkeley before Pask," said Alan Searcy, another material science professor emeritus who was recruited by Pask in 1954. "The graduate students have gone on to become leaders in industry and faculty members at major universities."

Pask was MSE chairman from 1958 until 1961 and associate dean for Graduate Affairs in the College from 1969 until he retired in 1980. He garnered respect for the ceramic engineering program worldwide and expanded MSE by recruiting faculty with a broad range of expertise, from minerals processing to physical chemistry.

by Sarah Yang, Campus Public Affairs

FOREFRONT takes you into the labs, classrooms, and lives of professors, students, and alumni for an intimate look at the innovative research, teaching, and campus life that define the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

Published three times a year by the Engineering Public Affairs Office. Have a comment about Forefront? E-mail your letter to the editor. Click here to learn more about the magazine.