Special Issue In Memory of Dr. John F. ‘‘Jack’’ Smith
1923-2015
Dr. Jack Smith was Editor in Chief of the Journal of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion from 1988 to 2012. During his twenty-four year tenure he had a significant impact on the direction and quality of the Journal. His influence is still felt through the current JPED staff, who worked with Jack for many years, and through the numerous Associate Editors, who were hired by him. Those interested in more details about Jack’s career and accomplishments will find biographies in the June 2012 and December 2015 issues of JPED.
Articles in this special issue in memory of Jack were either invited or especially selected from submissions to JPED. The lead article, entitled ‘‘Advances in Pb-Free Solder Microstructure Control and Interconnect Design,’’ is related to work performed by Jack on lead-free solders. That work led to a patent and a highly cited paper. One of the authors on the lead article, Iver Anderson, was a colleague of Jack at the Ames National Laboratory and was a co-author along with Chad Miller on their seminal paper ‘‘A Viable Tin-Lead Substitute: Sn-Ag-Cu,’’ J. Electronic Materials 23 (1994) 595-601.
We remember Jack here with pictures from his son Dr. Mark Smith and from both the ASM International and Alloy Phase Diagram International Commission (APDIC) archives. The first shows him in an undated picture at Ames Lab. Presumably he is surrounded by students, faculty, and Ames staff. If you look closely, you will see a smile on his face and the cheerful countenance that many remember (Fig.1).
Work on lead-free solders at the Ames Lab was a collaboration with Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM. The work was described in an article that appeared in the ASM member magazine, Advanced Materials & Processes, July 1994,
JPEDAV (2016) 37:363–368 DOI: 10.1007/s11669-016-0485-8 1547-7037ASM International
p 68. Figure2contains pictures from that article of Jack, Iver Anderson, and Bob Terpstra from Ames Lab and of Fred Yost from the Sandia Lab.
A major activity at the journal in its early years was to publish updated and new binary phase diagrams. To aid in this work, a team of Category Editors was formed by ASM to focus on specific alloy systems. Jack joined in this effort by being the category editor for vanadium alloys. Figure3shows the category editors in 1984 when they met at a workshop. Jack can be seen in the first row surrounded by many people who are still active in the phase diagram community.
An important asset of any journal is the Associate Editors who select reviewers and make decisions on the approval of submissions. The 1991 Associate Editors, all selected by Jack, are shown with him in Fig.4.
ASM formed an Alloy Phase Diagram (APD) Committee to advise both the journal and the Society on policies and direction concerning phase diagrams. Figure5 is a picture of the committee in 1991. Standing tall next to Jack Smith is the late Dr. William ‘‘Bill’’ Scott who was the ASM staff liaison to the committee and a consummate supporter of Jack, the journal, and the global phase diagram effort. The picture in Fig.6 of an APD task force shows others involved with the Journal in 1995, including Mary Anne Fleming who is the current content developer of journals at ASM and a person who worked directly with Jack Smith on the journal while he was editor.
A key organization in the global phase diagram effort is the Alloy Phase Diagram International Commission or APDIC. It was formed in 1986 with Jack as a representative. The mission of APDIC, given on their website, is to promote ‘‘… phase diagram evaluation and the dissemination of high-quality information.’’ Figure7 is a picture of APDIC representatives at the 1993
Fig. 3 Workshop for Binary Category Editors in 1984
Fig. 5 Alloy Phase Diagram Committee in 1991. Back row, Gaylord Smith, Michael Zedalis, Ted Massalski, Vincent Marcotte, Nev Gokcen, Jack Smith, William Scott, Jr.; front row, John Morral, Mike Notis, Charlie Parker, Hiro Okamoto
Fig. 7 Representatives to the 1993 APDIC meeting, held in Cambrils, Spain
meeting in Cambrils, Spain. Pictures of Jack at a 2001 APDIC dinner held in York, UK are given in Fig.8and 9.
Jack left us with a legacy of technical accomplishments and friendships that can not be adequately described by pictures. Yet the pictures are a reminder of Jack and of a long life well spent.
John Morral Editor Journal of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion Acknowledgments
Special thanks are due Mary Anne Fleming from ASM International and both Andre Costa e Silva and Tim Chart from APDIC who provided additional pictures and information for this tribute.
