RIP Lee L. Lowery, Jr.

Dr. Lee Leon Lowery, Jr., known as “L3” to his students, passed away on February 28, 2024. He spent his lifetime learning from the world around him and in return teaching the world around him….

Dr. Lowery was a man of great intellect, generosity, and wit. He gave of himself wholly and with full commitment, always taking time to look over new ideas, help someone with their business goals, write a letter of recommendation, assist with patent applications, and especially teach new things. He loved sharing and seeking knowledge, and he will be remembered best for the love he had for his family and friends, the Texas Aggies, and God. He was a trusted friend and educator who was always there when someone had a need. He had a unique ability to serve, and people from all walks of life leaned on him for strength, advice, and assistance.

In the years I’ve spent online–and this past 1 July that makes twenty-seven–I’ve had the privilege of connecting with many people, some I knew IRL, some I didn’t, and some I should have. Lee Lowery was one of the last category.

I was a Mechanical Engineering major at Texas A&M, so (given the spread out nature of the campus and of academia itself) I didn’t meet him or take any courses from him. Complicating issues further was that Lowery, along with Teddy Hirsch (whom I did meet in 1994) developed the TTI wave equation program. The wave equation program was greeted with hostility by many of the “old heads” in the business (even Marvin Gates of the Gates formula didn’t like it!) and my father was one of those. So, along with the other cares of being in Vulcan and elsewhere, I didn’t really try to establish contact.

In 2001 I started teaching geotechnical engineering at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and along with the expansion of “The Wave Equation for Piling” (the predecessor of both this site and vulcanhammer.net) I connected with Lee. I found Lee to be a delight to correspond with; he gave me many insights into teaching and other things. Moreover Lee was a serious Christian; the way he shared that online (something I think Texas A&M made him tone down in later years) was the inspiration of many of the “life lessons” (to use a phrase from one of my own students) which appear in my geotechnical and mechanical engineering courses.

Lee also shared many of the resources from his years developing the wave equation. A good number of those resources–including obviously the TTI/Microwave program itself–appear on this site (primarily) and for all of those I am in his debt.

We will miss you, Lee, in your last voyage, but reunion is soon. Here.