For Sophia Balakrishnan, honoring her late husband at USC was an easy decision. A.V. Balakrishnan, known affectionately as “Bal”, came to USC nearly 70 years ago. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, in electrical engineering and mathematics respectively, here and considered himself a Trojan for life.
Sophia, right, first endowed an academic chair in his honor in the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering in 2017 (currently held by Professor Petros Ioannou). One year later, she further honored the department by donating Bal’s personal book collection to serve as a resource library for future engineers.
A. V. Balakrishnan: Academic Legacy
The 26th Annual Engineering Awards Luncheon
April 23rd, 2004
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Pictures from the A. V. “Bal” Balakrishnan
Chair Dedication, April 11th, 2016
A Lasting Legacy
Professor Petros Ioannou is installed as the inaugural A.V. “Bal” Balakrishnan Chair.
Transcript of Sophia Balakrishnan’s Speech
Transcript of Professor Petros Ioannou’s Speech
Transcript of A.V. Balakrishnan’s PhD Student’s Speech
Videos of Prof. Lev Semyonovich Pontryagin (Лев Семёнович Понтрягин) 3 September 1908 – 3 May 1988. He was a Soviet mathematician, born in Moscow and lost his eyesight due to a stove explosion when he was 14. Despite his blindness he was able to become one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, partially with the help of his mother Tatyana Andreevna who read mathematical books and papers to him. He made major discoveries in a number of fields of mathematics, including algebraic topology and differential topology.
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Aeroelasticity in Axial Flow: Balakrishnan Continuum Theory and a Semi-Continuum Approach
Dr. George DeMoulin was the last ever PhD student of Dr. Balakrishnan. In 2019 he published his thesis, which begins by presenting the mathematical development of the Balakrishnan Continuum Theory (BCT) of aeroelasticity in axial flow, which was left unpublished by Professor Balakrishnan in 2015.