Stepan (Stephen) Prokofyevich Timoshenko (1878-1972), is reputed to be the father of modern engineering mechanics. He was born in the village of Shpotivka of Chernihiv region in Ukraine and was educated in St Petersburg. He lectured at Kyiv University before fleeing to the USA in 1922. He joined the staff of Stanford University in 1936. He wrote many of the seminal works in the areas of engineering mechanics and strength of materials, many of which are still available today.
