J. Harold Wayland, professor emeritus of engineering and applied science at Caltech, died Tuesday, October 10, 2000, after suffering a heart attack two days earlier. He was 91.
Wayland was internationally known for his research on blood flow and for pioneering the development and use of quantitative measurements at the microscopic level to investigate fundamental life processes. He also conducted research on the impact of diabetes mellitus on blood flow and on the molecular exchanges between blood and tissues that occur at the level of the smallest vessels in the body.
A native of Idaho, Wayland earned his bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics in 1931 at the University of Idaho, and his master's and doctorate in physics and mathematics at Caltech. Following his graduation in 1937, he taught at the University of Redlands until 1941, when he joined the Naval Ordnance Laboratory in Washington, D.C., as head of the magnetic model section for the degaussing of ships.
He conducted torpedo research as a War Research Fellow at Caltech in 1944 and 1945, and after the war worked for the US Navy's Underwater Ordnance Division until joining the Caltech faculty in 1949. He was appointed professor of applied mechanics in 1957, became professor of engineering science in 1963, and retired as professor emeritus in 1979.
A former chairman for the medical sciences section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Wayland was awarded the Malpighi Award in 1988 from the European Society for Microcirculation.
