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Alan Neville Gent (11 November 1927 – 20 September 2012) was a professor at the University of Akron. He was recognized during his lifetime as a world-leading authority on the topics of adhesion physics, crystalline and glassy polymers, and the fracturing of rubber.

Contributions to rubber science

Gent discovered the Fletcher-Gent effect and developed the Gent hyperelastic model. He was involved in the investigation of the O-ring failure in the space shuttle Challenger disaster. Gent also published more than 200 works about rubber science. He was the editor and author of the textbook Engineering with Rubber and studied the conditions that cause cavitation in rubber under the action of hydrostatic tensile loading. His most frequently cited work proposed a hyperelastic stress-strain law for rubber.

Life

Gent was born in Leicester, England. He obtained degrees in Physics and Mathematics at the University of London. He obtained a doctorate in 1955 in the mechanics of deformation and fracture of rubber and plastics.

At age 17, Gent worked as a research assistant at the John Bull Rubber Co. He served in the British Army from 1947 to 1949 before becoming a research physicist and later a principal physicist at the British Rubber Producer's Research Association.

Gent joined the faculty of the University of Akron in 1961 and spent almost half a century at the school.

He was an assistant director of the Institute of Polymer Science and dean of graduate studies and research in addition to being a researcher and professor.

Gent received the 1975 Bingham Medal and the Colwyn Medal of the Plastics and Rubber Institute from the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) in 1978 and the George S. Whitby teaching award in 1987. Gent also received the Charles Goodyear Medal from the ACS Rubber Division in 1990.

He died on 20 September 2012 at the age of 85.

External links

• Photograph of Prof. Gent Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
• 1979 Interview with Alan Gent
• Prof. Gent starred in this University of Akron production of The Adventures of Mr. Tompkins

References

1. "Colwyn Medal award winners". iom3. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
2. Directory of Graduate Research 1963 p2 "ALAN NEVILLE GENT, Professor (b. 1927). B.Sc, 1946, Ph.D., 1955, Univ. of London. Polymer Physics. Mechanics of rubber spring systems; viscoelastic behavior of polymers; stress relaxation; failure processes; crystallization. A. N. Gent ..."
3. "Dr. Alan Neville Gent Obituary: View Alan Gent's Obituary by Akron Beacon Journal". Legacy.com. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
4. "Remembering Prof. Alan Neville Gent". Rubber Chemistry and Technology. 85 (4): 669–670. December 2012. doi:10.5254/0035-9475-85.4.669. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
5. "Memorial Tribute". nae.edu. National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
6. "Biography Alan Gent". snaccooperative.org/. National Archives. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
7. Gent, Alan N. (2012). Engineering with Rubber How to Design Rubber Components (3 ed.). Munich: Carl Hanser Verlag. ISBN 978-3-446-42764-8. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
8. Gent, Alan N. (1990). "Cavitation in Rubber: A Cautionary Tale". Rubber Chemistry and Technology. 63 (3): 49–53. doi:10.5254/1.3538266.
9. Gent, A. N. (1996). "A new constitutive relation for rubber". Rubber Chemistry and Technology. 69 (1): 59–61. doi:10.5254/1.3538357.
10. Henry, Denise Henry (3 October 2012). "Obituary of Alan Gent (1927-2012)". Physics Today. doi:10.1063/pt.4.1488. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
11. "Renowned UA professor dies". Akron Beacon Journal. Akron Beacon Journal. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2024.

• 1927 births
• 2012 deaths
• Scientists from Leicester
• University of Akron faculty
• British Army soldiers
• Polymer scientists and engineers
• Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
• Presidents of the Society of Rheology