ASME President, 1982 - 1983

Dr. Serge Gratch’s career has spanned nearly 40 years and has included experience as a research scientist and professor, and he has held various research management positions.  He was appointed director of the chemical sciences laboratory of the Ford Motor Company in 1972.

With Ford since 1961 in various capacities, he helped to organize the company’s alternative fuels program.  Projects under his direction as head of the chemical sciences laboratory have included: control of automotive emissions, pollution from manufacturing, resource recovery and recycling, corrosion protection, and fuels and lubricants.

He joined ASME in 1944 and since then has been very active in a number of areas.  These have included a 20-year membership on the ASME Standing Committee on Thermophysical Properties (1950-70); member of the ASME Policy Board Research (1972-73); and its vice president (1973-77); member of the Committee on Planning and Organization (1978-81) and member of the Committee on Research Needs (1978-81).  He was elected a member of the Society’s first Board of Governors under ASME’s new organizational structure in 1981.  In 1968 he was named Fellow of the Society and in 1980 an Honorary Member.

He has been regional editor of the International Journal of Fracture since 1965 and a member of the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Polymer Science, part A-2, since 1967.  He has also published 29 technical papers.

Gratch has served as a member of the National Alcohol Fuels Commission from 1979 to 1981, following his appointment by President Carter.  He is also a member of the National Materials Advisory Board and of the Board of Directors of the Engineering Society of Detroit.  He has served on numerous committees of the National Materials Advisory Board of the National Research Council and was chairman of its committee on Science Base for Material Processing.

Gratch received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, and his master’s and doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1943, 1945 and 1950 respectively.  In 1974 the University honored Gratch with the Alumni Award of Merit.

Prior to joining Ford he served as a research scientist for Rohm & Haas Company and as associate professor of mechanical engineering at Northwestern University.

He is a member of numerous technical and professional organizations including Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma, Sigma Xi, ASC, AAAS, SAE and ASEE.  Active in these organizations, Gratch has also served SAE, ASEE, the International Meteorological Organization and the World Meteorological Organization as an officer, member or chairman of various technical committees.

Gratch is a recognized authority on polymer kinetics, viscoelasticity, and thermodynamics.