George Thomas Hahn, Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, died June 7, 2022, in Nashville, Tennessee. Funeral services will be held June 9 at 9:30 a.m. at Congregation Micah. The service will be streamed online.
Hahn served the Vanderbilt School of Engineering for 18 years with distinction until his retirement in 1998. Prior to joining the engineering faculty, he worked for 19 years at Battelle Laboratories in Columbus, Ohio where, in his last position, he was the Division Chief and Manager of the Metal Science Section.
Hahn was a Fellow in the American Society of Metals, an honor recognizing distinguished contributions to the field of materials science and engineering. He published approximately 200 papers in the fields of fracture mechanics, rolling contact, and riveted connections and was listed in Who’s Who in Engineering Academia.
Hahn earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from NYU in 1952. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1953 to 1955 as a project engineer at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. He earned a M.S. degree in metallurgical engineering from Columbia University in 1955, and a Ph.D. in metallurgy from MIT in 1959.
Hahn was born in Vienna, Austria in 1930. When he was eight, his family left Austria for New York City to escape Hitler’s persecution. Tributes may be made in Professor Hahn’s memory to the General Fund in support of the Children of the Shoah statue at Congregation Micah.
He is survived by his wife, Frances Cutler Hahn; his two daughters, Claudia Hahn Abbott (Jon Abbott) and Elisabeth Hahn (Missy Stogner); his grandchildren, Andrew Abbott (Rachel Northcutt Abbott) and Kara Abbott; and his stepdaughter Cynthia Moon (Bobby Moon). He was preceded in death by his first wife, Charlotte Hahn.
Contact: Brenda Ellis, 615 343-6314
brenda.ellis@vanderbilt.edu