Background
Hatsopoulos was born in Athens, Greece in 1927 and is linked to the family of the former rector of the Athens Polytechnic School, Nicolas Kitsikis.
Hatsopoulos was born in Athens, Greece in 1927 and is linked to the family of the former rector of the Athens Polytechnic School, Nicolas Kitsikis.
He attended Athens Polytechnic before entering Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in 1950, and the professional degree of Mechanical Engineer in 1954, gaining his Doctorate of Science in 1956.
In 1965, he and Joseph Keenan published their famous textbook Principles of General Thermodynamics, which restates the second law of thermodynamics in terms of the existence of stable equilibrium states. Their formulation of the second law of thermodynamics states that:
The Hatsopoulos-Keenan statement of the Second Law has been rigorously shown to entail the well-known Clausius, Kelvin-Planck, and Carathéodory statements of the Second Law. Moreover, it has provided a basis to extend the traditional definition of entropy to the non-equilibrium domain.
In 1976, Hatsopoulos also contributed to a pioneering formulation of a unified theory of mechanics and thermodynamics, which can be viewed as a precursor of the emerging field of quantum thermodynamics.
While at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hatsopoulos was head of the Engineering Division of Matrad Corporation (New York). Matrad Corporation and Massachusetts Institute of Technology financially supported his doctoral thesis, The Thermo-Electron Engine.
In 1956, Hatsopoulos co-founded the Thermo Electron Corporation (New York Stock Exchange: TMO). Thermo Electron became a major provider of analytical instruments and services for a variety of domains under the development of George Hatsopoulos, John Hatsopoulos, and Arvin Smith.
In 1965, George Hatsopoulos was president of the Thermo Electron Engineering Corporation and Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
In 1997 he was awarded the 3rd Annual Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy and Employment. Mr. Hatsopoulos is also a recipient of The International Center in New York"s Award of Excellence.