2022 Excellence in Research Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient - Denis Blackmore

Admired as a “renaissance mathematician,” Denis Blackmore, professor of mathematical sciences, taught for a remarkable 50 years and was a founding member of NJIT’s Center for Applied Mathematics and Statistics. He passed away in April of this year.

He was a leading expert in dynamical systems, which use mathematics to measure and model the changes within a system over time. These models can be used in economic forecasting, medical diagnosis, environmental modeling, industrial equipment analysis and other applications.

Blackmore also played a significant role in helping the Department of Mathematical Sciences become one of the best-recognized applied mathematics departments in the U.S.

Blackmore’s work in both pure and applied mathematics, and his exploration of the boundary between them, was known both nationally and internationally. Colleagues noted his refusal to restrict himself to a single field. While his focus was on dynamical systems, he also made significant contributions to a number of other fields, including differential equations, differential geometry and topology, as well as more applied areas, such as fluid dynamics and granular media.

In his work “A perspective on vibration-induced size segregation of granular materials,” published in Chemical Engineering Science in 2002, Blackmore and his collaborators provided one of the first clearly formulated, quantitative explanations of the role that vibrations have on size segregation and compaction of granular matter. This type of work with granular materials can be useful in any industry that needs to pack objects into containers, such as the pharmaceutical, food and agricultural industries. The paper was an excellent example of interdisciplinary research between Blackmore and his engineering colleagues, illustrating the importance of mathematical approaches in
understanding an applied problem of widespread, real-world significance.

His first-author work from 1997, “The sweep-envelope differential algorithm and its applications to NC machining verification,” published in Computer-Aided Design, is still widely cited and extensively used by researchers in the field.

Blackmore’s high research productivity is a good reflection of his diversity of projects: he authored or co-authored 134 peer-reviewed journal articles and more than 68 refereed conference papers, in addition to writing six books and 10 book chapters. His scholarship included editorial activities for numerous journals, including Regular & Chaotic Dynamics, Mechanics Research Communications, and the Journal of Nonlinear Mathematical Physics, among many others. He helped organize an extraordinary number of conferences and symposia.

His works are still widely read and used, sometimes two or more decades after their publication, illustrating the value and longevity of his research impact. Blackmore’s scholarship was well funded over the years by many federal research and training grants, which helped to support 16 students who carried out their Ph.D. research under his supervision. At NJIT, he was also a member of the Center for Manufacturing Systems and a member of the ParticleTechnology Center.

Blackmore contributed significantly to the overall success of NJIT. A popular instructor, he was recognized as a Master Teacher in 2017 and served NJIT in numerous capacities—most recently as president of the Faculty Senate.