Kenneth C. Liu

Kenneth C. Liu, 82, of Oak Ridge, passed away Monday, March 11.

He was born Oct. 8, 1930, in Taipei, Taiwan, and graduated with a degree in civil engineering from the National Taiwan University.

He immigrated to the United States in 1958 to attend the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he received a master’s degree in civil engineering. After working at Combustion Engineering for five years, he continued his studies at Yale University, where he received his Ph.D. in Applied Sciences.

In 1969, he moved to Oak Ridge to work at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he was a research engineer studying material properties in high-temperature metals and ceramics. He developed several novel material testing systems which were honored with an IR100 Award (1985 – Biaxial high-temperature-fatigue extensometer) and R&D100 Award (2002 – ORNL Spiral Notch Torsion Testing System). He was honored by Martin Marietta Energy Systems in 1986 (Inventor’s Award) and 1988 (Technical Achievement Award). He retired from ORNL in 2003 but continued to work with his colleagues for many years afterwards.

He was active in Oak Ridge Youth Soccer in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a coach and referee and was the chairman of the ORHS Soccer Booster’s Club when his son played for the SoccerCats in 1981.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Susan; his son, Andy Liu and wife Brenda Baker; and two grandchildren, Kira Liu and Erik Liu, all of Newton, Ma. He is also survived by his sister, Pao-Yu Chen of Taipei, Taiwan; his sister Choi-Wan Liu, of Taipei, Taiwan; his brother Chi-Ren Liu and wife Betty of Shenzhen, China; his brother Leo Liu and wife Ruth of Taipei, Taiwan; and his brother Bill Liu and wife Ting-Yueh, of Newton, Ma.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, March 16, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Weatherford Mortuary in Oak Ridge.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to WUOT and public radio (http://wuot.org/h/support.html).

An online guest book can be signed at www.weatherfordmortuary.com.