Steven L. Crouch was named dean of
the Institute of Technology in January 2005.
Born in Los Angeles, Crouch grew up in Sleepy
Eye, Minnesota, graduating from its public high
school in 1961. He received bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in
mineral engineering from the University of Minnesota (in 1966, 1967, and 1970,
respectively). He began his career as a research officer with the Mining Research
Laboratory of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa in 1968. In 1970 he joined
the University of Minnesota faculty as an assistant professor in what is now
the Department of Civil Engineering. From 1987 to 1997 he served as head of
that department and in 1997 became the college's associate
dean for finance and planning.
Crouch holds the Theodore W. Bennett Chair
in Mining Engineering and Rock Mechanics. His main area of interest is numerical
modeling of problems in solid mechanics using boundary integral equation methods.
His early research dealt with the stability of underground mine openings;
more recently, he has studied numerical stress analysis techniques for
fiber-reinforced and particulate composite materials. In the mid-1970s he
developed a special numerical method called the displacement discontinuity method,
a widely used tool for solving problems ranging from crack propagation
in elastic solids to the design of underground mining excavations.
He is coauthor (with A. M. Starfield) of the book Boundary
Element Methods in Solid Mechanics, which has been translated into Chinese and Russian.
As dean, Crouch hopes to strengthen the college's
interdisciplinary initiatives in digital technology and nanotechnology, and
expand its involvement in the University's Initiative
for Renewable Energy and the Environment.
Crouch is
a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Rock Mechanics
Association, the International Association for Boundary Element Methods,
International Society for Rock Mechanics, and the Society for Mining, Metallurgy
and Exploration. He has served on the editorial boards of Engineering
Analysis with Boundary Elements, International
Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, and
Geomechanics Abstracts.
In 2004 he received the Charles W. Britzius
Distinguished Engineer Award from the Minnesota Federation
of Engineering, Science, and Technology Societies.
Among his other honors are the U.S. National
Committee for Rock Mechanics Applied Research
Award (with M.G. Mack), the AIME/SME Rock Mechanics
Award, and the Minnesota Council on Quality Award.
