Obituary of James Frank Wilson

Professor James Frank (“Jim”) Wilson, aged 85, died Friday, January 18, at the Hock Memorial Pavilion of Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina, after a long, joyful and successful life.

Jim was born in Buffalo, New York, on May 26, 1933, the first son of Elma Peck and James Thomas Manning (“J. T. M.”) Wilson, a Presbyterian minister. As a preacher’s kid, he lived in several small towns in upstate New York as his father’s church callings evolved, but spent most of his youth in Elmira, New York. He graduated from Southside High School in Elmira. In his early years, he loved building and creating things, and wanted to be a carpenter, but was persuaded to apply those talents to engineering. Therefore, he entered The College of Wooster (Ohio), in a five year joint liberal arts and engineering program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and received degrees in physics and math from Wooster and in engineering from MIT in 1956. After MIT, he joined Budd Company as a design engineer, but was soon subject to the military draft, so entered the US Navy under their critical skills program. This program put him in research for the Navy, at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory in MD, rather than on a ship.

Following his Navy active duty, he taught at the University of Rochester (New York), where he met and married his wife of 60 years, Nancy Keeler Wilson, the love of his life. After Nancy’s graduation from Rochester, Jim and Nancy moved to Pittsburgh to attend graduate school. There, Jim received an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and worked at US Steel Fundamental Research Laboratory and Bettis Atomic Power, while Nancy completed her PhD in Chemistry. Their two sons, David and John, were born during this sojourn in Pittsburgh. Not busy enough, and eager to obtain a full load of education, Jim and Nancy then went to Ohio State University, where Jim taught Engineering Mechanics as a Ford Foundation Fellow and Freeman Scholar, and earned a PhD. In 1967, Jim was seduced by a faculty position offer from Duke University’s School of Engineering, and by the beauty of North Carolina in April, where Jim and Nancy lived and loved for more than fifty years. Their daughter, Leslie, joined the family in 1977.

During his academic career, Jim was a NASA Faculty Fellow, a lecturer at three NATO Advanced Study Workshops, and a Visiting Scholar at Colorado State University and the University of Melbourne, Australia. He was active in national committees for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He received a national award for innovative experimental research from ASME in 1977, and for the year’s best state-of-the-art engineering publication from ASCE in 1987. He was a Life Fellow of the ASME and a Fellow of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers. As a registered professional engineer, he regularly consulted and served as an expert witness, testifying on the mechanics of vehicle accidents, structural failures, and product performance.

Jim was author or co-author of about 250 works, including technical reports on forensic engineering, refereed symposium papers, and professional journal articles. He also published three books on structural dynamics, a three-volume work on experiments in engineering, and two US patents. His book, “Dynamics of Offshore Structures,” first published in 2002, is still in print. His creative experimental research in robotics attracted international attention, some examples of which were highlighted in the 1989 BBC documentary, Nature’s Technology.

As Professor of Engineering at Duke, Jim taught courses in applied mechanics, structural dynamics, and experimental systems, on both the undergraduate and graduate level. He was the major research advisor for five post-doctoral fellows, and more than thirty graduate students, about half of whom were granted PhDs. He served as Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. As Professor Emeritus, he continued to pursue research, writing, and consulting interests throughout his retirement.

Throughout his life, Jim continued his interests in carpentry and building projects. He spent weekends over about seven years building a very sturdy and beautiful vacation home at Kerr Lake in Virginia for his family. His other hobbies included tennis, swimming, and boating, as well as traveling to interesting and challenging international places. Jim was a faithful friend, an intellectually stimulating companion, an adventurer, and fun to be with. Foremost, he was a loving husband and father—kind, tolerant, slow to anger, a wonderful example to his family and supportive of their endeavors. Jim is survived and lovingly remembered by his wife, Nancy Keeler Wilson; daughter Leslie Keeler Wilson, son Alexander John Wilson and his wife Mary Beatty of Durham, and son David Manning Wilson, of Avon CT; and two grandchildren Thomas Manning Wilson, and Samantha Beatty Wilson. Jim was predeceased by his brother, Mark Thomas Wilson, and his sister, Carolyn Wilson Abel.

In lieu of flowers, the Wilson family requests that contributions in Jim’s honor and memory can be made to the J.T.M. Wilson Endowed Scholarship at The College of Wooster, 1189 Beall Avenue, Wooster, OH 44691 or through Rebecca Schmidt at rschmidt@wooster.edu

A memorial service was held on Friday, February 1, at 10:30am in the Chapel of Walker's Funeral Home, 120 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill.  

The Wilson family is under the care of Walker's Funeral Home of Chapel Hill. Please express your on-line condolences by using the tab below.