James Monroe Gere
1926-Jan. 30, 2008
Portola Valley, California

James Monroe Gere, 82, professor emeritus of civil engineering at Stanford University, died in Portola Valley Jan. 30.

He was born in Syracuse, N.Y. At age 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, serving in England, France and Germany in the early 1940s. In 1946, he married his high school sweetheart, Janice Platt. He and his wife settled in Troy, N.Y., where he studied at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

On completing his master's degree, he was awarded one of the first National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. He chose to study at Stanford, where in 1954 he earned a doctorate in civil engineering and accepted a faculty position.

At Stanford, he served as associate dean of engineering and as department chair, and co-founded the Blume Earthquake Engineering Center.

Originally co-author of S.P. Timoshenko's text, "Mechanics of Materials," he became sole author of this and eight other books. His last project, in progress at his death, was a book based on the written memoirs of his great-grandfather, a colonel in the Civil War.

An internationally recognized scholar, he and colleague Haresh Shah were invited to be the first foreigners to study the earthquake-devastated city of Tangshan, China, in 1980.

Gere's interests included a lifelong love of the outdoors. He was a New York state champion archer, an activity he shared with his father and brothers. He became an Eagle Scout at 16. His numerous trips to the Grand Canyon and Yosemite national parks included more than 20 assents of Half Dome as well as 'John Muir hikes' of up to 50 miles a day. He shared his knowledge of the Sierras with family members, student groups, and friends.

In 1986, he hiked to Mount Everest's base camp, saving a companion's life.

He was also an active runner, completing the Boston Marathon at age 48 in a time of 3:13. As a young faculty member, he formed a running group jokingly called the "Angell Field Ancients" by the student athletes.

He and his wife made their home on the Stanford Campus for 39 years before moving to the Sequoias retirement community in 2001.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Janice Gere of Portola Valley; daughter, Susan Gere of Palo Alto; sons, William Gere of Hollister and David Gere of Palo Alto; and three grandchildren.

Tags: teacher/educator