Pierce, Allan D.
Oral history interview with Allan Pierce, 2021 July 6.
Interview with Allan Pierce, Professor Emeritus at Boston University and President of the Cape Cod Institute for Science and Engineering. Pierce recounts his childhood in Kansas and New Mexico, where his father worked on building aircraft during World War II. He remembers tinkering with a chemistry set as a child and building his own little radio. Pierce describes his undergraduate studies in physics at New Mexico State University and winning an NSF Fellowship to attend MIT for free for his graduate studies. Upon completing his PhD, Pierce recalls working for RAND Corporation on defense-related issues at the height of the Cold War, as well as his burgeoning interest in acoustics. Pierce describes his career trajectory that took him to Avco Space Systems Division, the Mechanical Engineering Department at MIT, and Georgia Tech. He recounts his research in a variety of fields such as helicopter noise, sonic booms, wind turbines, and underwater acoustics. Pierce talks about the genesis of his famed acoustics textbook and speaks in detail about several topics in the book, such as the wave theory of sound, plane waves, and room acoustics. Pierce describes moving to Penn State, then Boston University, and finally the formation of the Cape Code Institute. He also reflects on his time as Editor in Chief of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. The interview concludes with Pierce reflecting on his unique historical perspective and appreciation for acoustics, and how he has seen the ASA change over the years.
Allan Pierce is Professor Emeritus in the College of Engineering at Boston University. He is the founder and president of the Cape Cod Institute for Science and Engineering. Pierce previously served as Editor-in-Chief at the Acoustical Society of America, and has been on faculty at Penn State and Georgia Tech. He completed his graduate studies at MIT.
Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005
Carey, William D.
Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985
Pierce, Allan D.
Sparrow, Victor W.
Tisza, Laszlo, 1907-2009
Acoustical Society of America
Avco Corporation
Boston University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Pennsylvania State University
Rand Corporation
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Acoustical engineering
Diffraction.
Mechanical engineering.
Noise pollution
Sonic boom -- Research.
Structural dynamics
Underwater acoustics
Wave propagation.
Interviews. aat
Oral histories. aat
Transcripts. aat
Zierler, David, 1979- interviewer.
AIP-ICOS
American Institute of Physics. Niels Bohr Library & Archives. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA