Millard “Mill” Beatty, 70, professor emeritus of mechanical and materials engineering and a former department chair, died March 14 in Lexington, Kentucky.
Born Nov. 13, 1930, in Baltimore, Maryland, Beatty was an alumnus of Johns Hopkins University. He graduated cum laude as an undergraduate in 1959 and received his doctorate on Nov. 4, 1964.
His career in academia began at Loyola College in 1960 as a teacher of engineering physics. Beatty also was faculty at the University of Delaware and University of Kentucky, teaching mechanical engineering and engineering physics.
Beatty joined the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s College of Engineering in 1990 as chair of the Department of Engineering Mechanics. He continued to teach and lead in the department until his retirement in 2001.
In retirement, Beatty remained active in the field, contributing a variety of research papers and book articles regarding finite elasticity, continuum mechanics, nonlinear mechanical vibrations and classical mechanics. His work was renowned for being clear and informative, with more than 100 published journals, research papers and two textbooks – “Principles of Engineering Mechanics Volume 1: Kinematics — The Geometry of Motion” and “Principles of Engineering Mechanics Volume 2: Dynamics — The Analysis of Motion.” The latter remains in use today.
Beatty is preceded in death by Nadine, his wife of 74 years. He is survived by a sister, Jeanne Bagwell; three children, Scott Beatty, Ann Lassetter and Laura Allen; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
Funderal services were March 21 in Lexington. His family requests donations in his honor be directed to Bluegrass Parkinson’s Alliance.
Remembrances and condolences can be left online through the family obituary.
