Jerome P. Lynch, Ph.D.

Donald Malloure Department Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University of Michigan

Dear CEE,

It is with profound sadness that I share the news that Professor Dick Woods passed away on Wednesday afternoon with family by his side. The department learned just this evening of his passing. Due to COVID-19, a memorial service will be held in his honor at a later date.
Professor Woods was a dedicated member of our department faculty from 1967 to 2002. Upon his retirement in 2002, the Regents saluted his distinguished service by naming him Professor Emeritus.
Professor Woods received his BS and MS degrees from the University of Notre Dame in 1957 and 1962, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan in 1967. Before beginning his career at the University of Michigan, Professor Woods served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, conducted research at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirkland Air Force Base, and taught at Michigan Technological University in Houghton. Professor Woods joined the University of Michigan faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1967 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1971 and Professor in 1976. He also served as the Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 1994 to 2001.
Prof. Woods is best known for his pioneering research in soil dynamics, foundation engineering, and engineering geophysics. He authored over 80-refereed publications and chaired 21 Ph.D. theses. Among Professor Woods’ numerous awards are the Collingwood Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Terzaghi Lectureship from the ASCE Geotechnical Engineering Division. He was also inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2003.
In addition to being a pioneer of his field, he was an extremely gracious and kind colleague who truly loved the University of Michigan – he will be dearly missed. We will share more details of memorial services as we learn of them.

With Sadness,
Jerry