Education
Princeton University.
Princeton University.
He is noted for the development of the parabolic equation model and split-step Fourier algorithm for electromagnetic and ocean acoustic propagation. Tappert began his scientific career in the field of plasma physics, receiving his Doctor of Philosophy from Princeton University in 1967.
Following his years at Bell Labs, Tappert was a Senior Research Scientist at the Courant Institute of New York University from 1974 to 1978.
He moved to Coral Gables, Florida, in 1978 to join the faculty of the University of Miami, where he had a joint appointment in the Department of Physics on the main campus and in the Department of Applied Marine Physics at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). In 2001, he was awarded the Department of the Navy"s, the citation of which noted, "Professor Tappert"s introduction of the parabolic equation propagation model in 1974 started a revolution in the underwater acoustics modeling community.
. lieutenant is, in large part, a tribute to Professor Tappert"s superb efforts that today the PE model is the de facto standard full wave propagation model in underwater acoustics and that, in a practical sense, he is thought of as the "father of the PE model"." Tappert was posthumously awarded the Pioneer in Underwater Acoustics Medal by the Acoustical Society of America, "for application of the parabolic equation to underwater acoustic propagation." The 145th Annual Meeting of the Acoustical Society, in 2003, featured a memorial session dedicated to Frederick Tappert on the subject of "Propagation Phenomena and the Parabolic Equation.".
He was a member of the technical staff of Bell Telephone Labs from 1967 to 1974.