David Kroenlein, Remembering David Divoky, 1942-2012

David Divoky, 1942-2012

I remember David Divoky as an extraordinarily bright classmate, who walked confidently down the East High hallways with slide rule dangling from his belt, and who saw things quickly in science and mathematics classes, making observations that seemed lightyears ahead of where the rest of us were. His eyes in the photograph are the same eyes that saw these connections 60 years ago. When I heard of his passing, I wanted to learn what great things this promising kid had achieved. The answer is that he became one of our nation’s leading experts on the dynamics of coastal flooding, and he did it without the degrees that scientists are expected to have.

I hope that classmates will be able to supplement this report on David for a more complete picture.

David died in 2012 in Atlanta. He left a wife, Cheryl Johnson, and a son, Alexander Divoky. He was a lover of fine food, wine and music, according to his obituary. We get a sense of his remarkable career and his intellect from the numerous articles he wrote or co-authored on the dynamics of water, especially in coastal areas, including analyses of the effects of hurricanes, tsunamis, and other violent coastal events, which are increasingly in the public spotlight. In 2007 he was presented the Army Commander’s Award for Public Service for his work after Hurricane Katrina.

In his later years David was a scientist with AECOM, a very large, highly respected multinational engineering firm. In connection with a 2010 conference of international scientists in Singapore on hazard and flood risk assessment and management he was presented as follows:

MR. DAVID DIVOKY – SENIOR SCIENTIST AECOM USA
“Mr. Divoky has more than forty years of experience in the areas of hydrodynamics, coastal engineering, and flood hazard analysis. His early work focused on water waves generated by nuclear weapons in the ocean, the generation of tsunamis by earthquakes, and other hydrodynamic modeling in support of numerous federal programs. He is the principal author of the FEMA hurricane storm surge model; principal author of a model of landslide-generated waves in reservoirs (prepared for the Bureau of Reclamation); co-author of a model of the transport and fate of dredged material discharged into an estuary (prepared for the US Army Corps of Engineers); co-author of models of waves generated by underwater explosions (for the Atomic Energy Commission, the Defense Atomic Support Agency and the Defense Nuclear Agency); numerical models of tsunami generation and an atlas of tsunami exposure of US coastlines (for the Atomic Energy Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission).
“He is co-developer of the first numerical model of tsunami generation and oceanic propagation, including a model of the tsunami generated by the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964. That work was published by the National Academy of Sciences in its comprehensive report on all aspects of the earthquake. He has participated in support of National Academy of Science panels concerned with coastal flood hazards and in organization and management of a symposium on tsunamis for the National Science Foundation.”

The culmination of his work was a comprehensive 2013 report by AECOM for FEMA that analyzed potential long-term implications of climate change on the National Flood Insurance Program. AECOM included at the end of this report the following:

 

“This report is dedicated to the memory of David Divoky, who played a pivotal role in getting the team to collaborate creatively and develop innovative, simple solutions to carry out the analysis.”

As a good scientist must do.

David Kroenlein, September 2020

 

In Memory of David Joseph Divoky
March 26, 1942 – February 4, 2012
Obituary
David Joseph Divoky, 69, of Atlanta died February 4, 2012. He is survived by his wife, Cheryl Johnson and son, Alexander Divoky. David was Valedictorian of Wichita East High School and attended the California Institute of Technology. He had a long career in the field of coastal science. In 2007 he was presented the Army Commander’s Award for Public Service for his work after Hurricane Katrina. He loved music, good food, and great wine.

Editors’ Note: This remembrance was originally published on this website in fall, 2020.