Kirk Christian Valanis, PhD Theoretical Mechanics Researcher, Educator Endochronics Inc. Melbourne, FL www.marquismillennium.com/3rdEd/102 Dr. Kirk Christian Valanis spent more than 20 years teaching at several universities across the country as a professor at Iowa State University in the mid-1960s, a professor and materials division chairman at the University of Iowa for 10 years, and a professor and dean of engineering at the University of Cincinnati for eight years. In 1986, he served as president and owner of Endochronics Inc., which he founded in Vancouver, Washington. He joined the University of Portland as a research professor in 1998 and to this day, continues to conduct research in his field of expertise, i.e., continuum mechanics and continuum physics. For 25 years, Dr. Valanis did consultant work for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He was also a consultant for S-Cubed in La Jolla, California, for 15 years, and served on the board of directors for the University of Crete from 1978 to 1986. His extensive studies led to him to author and edit the book “Constitutive Equations” in 1976, “Irreversible Thermodynamics” in 1977, and “Endochronic Plasticity” in 1996. He published more than 100 articles in professional and academic journals. Dr. Valanis received many research grants from the AF Office of Scientific Research, the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office, and the Waterways Experiment Station, among others. Dr. Valanis made landmark contributions to the elasticity of rubbery materials, leading to the Valanis-Landel strain energy function, to the field of irreversible thermodynamics and the first proof of the existence of entropy for irreversible processes. He introduced the novel notion of ‘internal time’ that led to his theory of ‘endochronic plasticity’ and to his company, Endochronics Inc., which he founded. Dr. Valanis is an elected fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, honorary member of the Hellenic Society of Rheology, and member of the Society of Engineering Science and the Mathematics Association of America. How have you navigated disruptions in your industry to remain a top professional? If you love what you are doing, you’ll always find a way. You have to be innovative and imaginative. When one
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