Page 16 - Spring 2015

Allan D. Pierce: A Celebration of a Career in Acoustics in Commemoration of His Retirement as editor-in-Chief of the Acoustical society of America
Figure 3. Figure 1-1 from Allan Pierce’s Acoustics (Pierce, 1989, p. 2) “illustrating the scope and ramifications of acoustics.” Adapted from Lindsay, R. B. (1964). Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 36, 2242.
As a department chair, Allan had much freedom to pursue his objectives. He administered the Department of Aeronau- tics and Mechanical Engineering, but his actions suggested that it should have been called the Department of Acoustics. Allan recruited several faculty, made many resources avail- able to current faculty working in acoustics, and enticed faculty in other areas to devote their efforts to acoustics re- search. By the time he stepped down as chair, the program he administered had become a center of excellence.
The organization that arguably has gained the most from Al- lan’s efforts is the Acoustical Society of America. His work as ASA Editor-in-Chief is the most evident manifestation of his contributions but let us first consider the many other ways that he has advanced the cause of the Society. Some- times at the biannual ASA meetings, we had the feeling that Allan disproves the statement that a person cannot be in two places at once. You might see him presenting a paper, then at a committee meeting, then out in the hallway taking up a scientific issue with an experienced attendee or a student, dealing with an author in his role as Editor, just being a good friend to an innumerable set of friends, or in a meeting of one of the several technical committees in which he is ac- tive. Despite these activities, he somehow manages to attend
the presentations of others. Remarkably, it is not often that we have seen him doze off at these presentations (Figure 2), which is a testimonial to his great interest in anything that fits into Lindsay's rings of the universe, which place acous- tics at the center of all of science (Figure 3)!
It is reasonable to deduce that Allan’s involvement in the af- fairs of ASA were extensive. For anyone else, this might have led to a somewhat superficial contribution in a specific ac- tivity but not for him. If Allan was in the room, you could be sure that he would have input and that input would drive the activity. This was true for the Tutorials Lectures program, which takes place on the first evening of each ASA meet- ing, and it continues to be true for the committees in which he is active, notably the technical committees on Physical Acoustics and on Structural Acoustics and Vibrations and the Books+ Committee. If you need to know what topics would be good candidates for a special session, ask Allan. If you need to know who would be a good speaker for a distin- guished lecture, ask Allan. If you want a critique of a book published many years ago or a suggestion of good books on acoustics that have been overlooked, ask Allan. If you need a volunteer, ask Allan. Many years ago, we tried to remind Allan that he could decline such requests because the former First Lady Nancy Reagan said that one should "Just say no." Our effort was unsuccessful because Allan's reflex is to "Just say yes" to all things acoustics.
Many individuals know Allan Pierce best in his role as Edi- tor of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, a role that he took over in 1999. He held this position concurrently with his faculty position as a Professor at Boston Univer- sity until 2012 when he retired from the University. He re- tired from the editorship in November 2014. Allan is only the sixth editor of the Journal since the Society was formed in 1929. His contributions have been profound. He led its modernization, which made it available online and on CD- ROM. The inception of JASA-Express Letters, which allows for the rapid dissemination of current research, came during his tenure. He led the effort to create Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (POMA) because he believed that the presen- tations at the Society's meetings were too important to be represented only by an abstract. Acoustics Today, which is a separate publication not managed by the editor-in-chief, was expanded as a result of his desire to improve awareness within the Society's membership and the general public of the extensive activities in acoustics.
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