Adrian Bejan - Biography#

Adrian Bejan received his B.S. (1971, Honors Course), M.S. (1972, Honors Course), and Ph.D. (1975) degrees in mechanical engineering, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a Fellow of the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, at the University of California, Berkeley (1976-1978). He is J. A. Jones Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Duke University (1984-).

Professor Bejan’s research covers thermodynamics, convection, design science and evolution everywhere in nature. He authored more than 30 books and 700 peer-refereed journal articles. Recent books: Shape and Structure, from Engineering to Nature (2000), Design in Nature (2012), The Physics of Life (2016), Freedom and Evolution (2020), Time and Beauty (2022).

International honors: Benjamin Franklin Medal (2018), Humboldt Research Award (2019), ASME Medal (2024) ‘the highest award that the society can bestow,’ and 18 honorary doctorates from universities in 11 countries.

He is ranked by ISI among the 100 most cited authors in all of engineering (2001), all fields, all countries, living or deceased.